Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 249: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology; Papers 52-54 on Archeology
David Hume · en
The illustrated items are confined to those that are sufficiently
complete or readily identifiable as to be of value to archeologists,
curators, and historians who may find comparable items elsewhere. In
the interest of brevity, repetitive or unstratified objects have been
omitted, although occasional exceptions have been made in the latter
category where it is considered that the objects are of significance
to the study of the structures or the possessions of Tutter's Neck
residents, whether or not they can be closely dated.
The drawn objects are divided by type and are arranged in chronological
order within each group where variations of date are apparent. In most
instances the archeological evidence of the date at which the artifacts
were deposited in the ground is more accurate than is the overall date
range of individual items. Thus the fact that a delftware form that
was developed about 1700 continued to be manufactured until about 1740
would give us, in the absence of archeological evidence, a manufacture
date of about 1700-1740, but there would be no indication of the length
of the object's actual life. On the other hand, the archeological
evidence tells us only when the object was discarded, and not when it
was made. To avoid confusion, the descriptions of the artifacts only
indicate the periods in which the objects were first made and/or were
most popular, and then only when such dates are clearly at variance
with the archeological termini. Each description ends with the Tutter's
Neck field number that indicates the source of the item and provides
the terminus post quem for its context. Table 1 provides a summary
of the foregoing report for use in conjunction with the artifact
illustrations.