Date of Award
12-31-2014
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Historical Archaeology
First Advisor
Stephen A. Mrozowski
Second Advisor
Dennis Piechota
Third Advisor
Jennifer Meanwell
Abstract
The goal of this project is to develop a basic material characterization of the bricks excavated at the site of Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, New York. In the early Manor period of 1650-1690, this early Northern provisioning plantation supplied Barbadian sugar operations and pursued mercantile interests independent of state control. Accounting for the range of production defects and material characteristics of the bricks suggests on-site or local manufacture as a regional ceramic industry developed. Qualitative visual analysis and petrographic thin-sections were used to characterize the internal composition, variation and production evidence in the bricks. Interpreting the results of this analysis offers alternatives to the assumptions about building materials on the site, using material properties to assess the role of building materials as the landscape changed.
Recommended Citation
Schmidheiny, Martin John, "Seeing Red: Characterizing Historic Bricks at Sylvester Manor, Long Island, NY 1652-1735" (2014). Graduate Masters Theses. 295.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses/295