Boston Fingerprints 2014 - Images

SPARC Project: BostonFingerprints_2014 Principle Investigators: Joseph Bagley and Jennifer Poulsen Contributors: Rachel Opitz (SPARC) Joseph Bagley and Jennifer Poulsen (Boston Landmarks Commission) and Rachel Opitz (SPARC researcher) used a structured light scanner to create detailed 3D models of ceramic artifacts featuring finger and hand prints from the Parker-Harris Pottery Site and Three Cranes tavern Site in Charlestown, Massachusetts. These sites were excavated in the early- and mid-1980s in advance of Boston’s Big Dig as part of the Central Artery North Area, and are now listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the City Square Archaeological District. The Parker-Harris Pottery Site was the location of early coarse earthenware (redware) ceramic production in Boston. It was destroyed on June 17, 1775 by British troops who burned Charlestown as part of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Three Cranes Tavern was founded in the former Great House of Governor John Winthrop in the center of Charlestown, only 100 meters from the Parker-Harris property. The tavern passed through a series of owners resulting in a near-continual use of the property as a Tavern for 140 years. During archaeological investigation numerous privies and features were identified with tightly-dated ceramic assemblages, including numerous coarse earthenwares with the distinct decorative elements of the Parker or Harris pottery. This project aimed to establish that biometric identifiers directly connect pottery from consumption sites to production sites when there are known sales between production and consumption sites, tightly dated deposits that limit association of pottery to specific potters, and a limited number of potters producing these vessels. This type of research could establish previously-unknown associations and commercial networks of domestic redware potters across the eastern United States. With data as unique and personal as a fingerprint, the results of this analysis brings a personal and evocative light to these significant assemblages, allowing the public to appreciate these forgotten and sometimes nameless potters through the intimate association of their hands. This project includes raw and processed data captured using a Breuckmann Smartscan HE structured light scanner with 250mm lenses using Optocat 2013 software. Sixty ceramics were scanned - 30 from Parker-Harris Kiln and 30 from Three Cranes Tavern. This upload contains .pdf files of each cera