This week was very busy! In the classroom, our readings and lecture focused on ceramics. We discussed how ceramics are produced and decorated, and the attributes that make it possible for archaeologists to understand something about the method and date of manufacture of ceramic artifacts. The attributes studied by archaeologists include color, the hardness of the paste (the material the body of the ceramic is made from), the thickness, color, or texture of the glaze, and whether a ceramic artifact is hand-painted, or decorated through transfer printing, a decal, or being formed in a mold. Different techniques have been used to make and decorate ceramics at different times and in different places, and learning how to identify different attributes of ceramics helps archaeologists to say something about where a bowl, plate, or jar came from, and when. This information helps make it possible to say something about the kinds of lives that people lived in the past at the Market Street Chinatown – where were they getting their plates and cups? Were their ceramics made in China, England, or the United States? What was their economic situation like?

As we opened boxes, we found that the artifacts varied greatly in type, size, and condition. Some of the artifacts are intact or nearly so, while some are fragments the size of a fingernail. Some boxes, such as that in the picture to the left, contained many pieces that fit together into a single artifact – in this case a large Chinese stoneware storage vessel. We have seen a wide variety of ceramics, including pieces manufactured in England, China, and the United States, in a wide range of conditions, from highly fragmented to whole. Although it is exciting to recover whole artifacts, even small fragments can tell us a great deal. In fact, sometimes broken artifacts allow us to see details of their manufacture that would not be visible otherwise, giving clues as to the type of clay used, the firing temperature, or the manufacturing technique employed. Many artifacts fall somewhere between small fragments and whole vessels, and look instead like this week’s artifact of the week.

Artifact of the Week

This week’s artifact is a large bowl of Chinese export porcelain decorated with a pattern known as FitzHugh. Export wares are ceramics made specifically for export from China to Europe or the United States. On the interior of the bowl, the decoration is said to represent the traditional skills of the Chinese scholar: calligraphy, painting, music, and chess. This pattern was first used in the late eighteenth century, but remained popular in the nineteenth. FitzHugh is one among many varieties of blue on white underglaze decoration. Ceramic pieces with the FitzHugh pattern would have been expensive, and are considered luxury goods. Such goods were not used every day, but saved for special occasions or display. Often luxury goods that archaeologists find are older than other artifacts found near them, because these special artifacts are protected from the risk of breakage associated with everyday use. This may have been true for this bowl. Archaeologists often call these artifacts that are owned and used over long periods of time heirlooms. Eventually, however, this artifact was discarded along with artifacts of everyday life, such as Chinese stoneware jars, European stoneware, tableware, and glass bottles.

This week is the beginning of Winter Quarter at Stanford, and we held our first two course meetings. The students in this class are quite enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with this collection, and bring a diverse array of experience and interests to this project. We began with a brief introduction to the history of the Market Street Chinatown collection, including an overview of the history of Chinese settlements in San Jose and of the excavations that produced this collection. At our second course meeting we were joined by Rebecca Allen of Past Forward, Inc. Dr. Allen is one of the archaeologists responsible for the Woolen Mills Chinatown excavations in San Jose. She gave a presentation to our class about this excavation, and discussed the archaeology of Chinese settlement sites in California more generally, helping us to have a picture of how our work in this class can contribute to better understanding of this important part of the history of California.

On our first day in the laboratory, we held orientation sessions in order to familiarize students with the lab. Scott Baxter of Past Forward, Inc. led an important part of this orientation, showing students how to use the database that he has developed for us. The database we are using is designed in order to allow comparison of the Woolen Mills and Market Street Chinatown collections, and also to be a useful tool for facilitating future research utilizing the collection. Our orientation continued with an introduction to the routine tasks that are essential to cataloging this collection, such as how to handle artifacts safely in the lab, how to wash artifacts, how to use basic lab equipment such as the microscope or balances for weighing, how to use archaeological conventions for labeling artifacts, and how to use reference material for identifying and studying artifacts. We were able to check a box of artifacts out to each student to begin cataloging. As we began to take the lids off of boxes and get to the work of cataloging, it is safe to say that all of the students were excited by the artifacts that they found in their boxes. This is a really great collection! One of the first artifacts unpacked today is this week’s Artifact of the Week.

Artifact of the Week

This artifact has a lot to say in itself about life in Market Street Chinatown. This artifact is an eight and a half inch plate made of white improved earthenware, manufactured at Stoke-upon-Trent in Great Britain, a major center of ceramic production in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This plate was probably manufactured by Close & Co. This information was gained by looking at the manufacturer’s mark that was partly preserved on the base of this plate. The other side of the plate has another story to tell. If you look at the picture of the plate, you will see three near-rectangles that have been pecked through the glaze. Many residents of the Market Street Chinatown took their meals in communal kitchens, and marked their plates and bowls with symbols indicating personal ownership. Is this a symbol that anyone recognizes?

The 1985-1986 excavations at the Market Street Chinatown site were conducted by Archaeological Resource Service, Inc., an archaeological consulting firm. This was one of 36 features found at the site. In their field report, the archaeologists wrote, “A total of 50 bags of soil were removed from this feature. The feature was lined in redwood [and] four major strata were observed. – The soil was extremely organic, contained myriad fish bones, and smelled very strongly. A jade ornament was found at the northeast corner of the filled pit.”

To prepare the collection for cataloging and analysis, curation staff at History San Jose first transferred the artifacts to new, clean boxes to protect the materials during transit. On November 5, 2002, about one fifth of the collection (96 boxes) were moved to the Stanford Archaeology Center laboratory. During November and December, Research Assistants Gina Michaels and Ezra Erb inspected the contents of each box to identify any artifacts that needed immediate conservation treatment, and to set priorities for cataloging and analysis.

Artifact of the Week

The logo we chose for this website – a Chinese symbol that means “Double Happiness” – is from this artifact. This ceramic sherd is from a porcelain rice bowl that was manufactured in China and shipped to California for sale to Chinese immigrants. The “Double Happiness” decoration was very popular, and examples of this type of ceramic have been found in 19th century Chinese overseas sites throughout California. In the 1870s, a bowl like this one probably could have been purchased for about 2 to 5 cents.