Hi! I�m Liz Clevenger, an M.A. student in the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford. In addition to being a student in this lab methods class, I am working as a research assistant on the Market Street project and am conducting research on one of the features from the Market Street Chinatown for my master�s thesis. Although I started background research in the fall, CASA 203 is helping to jump start my actual in-lab artifact analysis for my thesis. I am getting to know the cataloging system and computerized database better, learning how to identify and analyze different materials, and also meeting a variety of people (from archaeologists specializing in historic California archaeology to descendents of San Jose�s 19th century Chinese community) whose insights and ideas are invaluable.

The artifacts I am analyzing for my thesis come from Feature 20 of the 85-31 collection. Because this collection was the focus of the lab methods class last winter, the ceramics from Feature 20 have already been cataloged. In the coming weeks, I�ll be cataloging and analyzing a variety of other types of artifacts, both as a part of lab (glass and metal) and on my own (organic remains like leather and textiles, and small finds such as buttons and coins). Earlier this winter I sent the faunal remains from Feature 20 to specialists who are trained in identifying and analyzing mammal and fish bones. I will also be sending out botanical remains recovered during flotation to another specialist for analysis. Stacey and I spent a cold, wet day up in San Francisco doing flotation on soil samples that had been saved from Feature 20 during the excavation in 1985; in addition to botanicals such as seeds, wood, and charcoal, a number of micro-artifacts like tiny fish vertebrae and small ceramic sherds were recovered from the soil samples.

For my class research project, I�m analyzing the ceramics and glass from Feature 20, and my interpretation will focus on the topic of food practices within the Market Street community. Glass bottle fragments -- like these finishes and necks pictured -- will aid my interpretation of food practices including storage, preparation, presentation, consumption, and discard.