Skip to main content

Rice University Archeological Project records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0270
Finding aid note: Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents

The artifacts that make up this collection are thought by a professional archaeologist to be residue from an early incinerator pit on the Rice University campus. Sixteen of the twenty-seven items are glass. There are small bottles, five of clear glass, one blue, one green, one vitrified green, one brown, and one aqua-green fragmented bottle neck. There are also an intact clear glass inkwell bottle with degraded metal lid and a cologne bottle embossed on the base “Prince Machabelli N.Y.” Also in the collection are two clear glass two-ounce droppers, a clear glass pipette, and a glass stopper.

The six ceramic items are a vitreous china sherd, part of a bowl or cup; a small porcelain sherd; a heavy ceramic sherd, a ceramic electrical insulator fragment; a small porcelain lid with ring-like handle; and a porcelain escutcheon.

Completing the collection are five metal objects: a rusted mule shoe, a rusted railroad nail, two triangular-shaped wedges attached by a metal chain (apparently used for construction), and an unidentifiable rusted piece, perhaps a drill.

Dates

  • 1997

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material about the Rice University Archaeological Project, 1997, must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical / Historical

The Rice University Archaeological Project, 1997 is a collection of twenty-seven labeled artifacts gathered at the building site when construction for the Baker Institute building was beginning. There are sixteen glass objects, six ceramic, and five metal. Records about the collection include a thorough descriptive report by a professional archaeological consultant, Anne Michelle Huebner, completed in March 1997. Drawing on a variety of technical resources, Huebner was able to assign probable dates and functions to the objects. Because some but not all showed evidence of having been in extreme heat, the conclusion of Huebner’s report is that the site where the objects were found appears to have been an incinerator pit. The items date from the first part of the twentieth century and were probably refuse, discarded by Rice University.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

The collection consists of twenty-seven objects found in August 1996 at a site on the Rice University campus that was being prepared for construction of the Baker Institute building. The conclusion of a professional archaeologist is that the items are residue from an early incinerator pit. There are sixteen glass items, six ceramic, and five metal ones.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Received July 10, 1997 from Jill Blackwelder, Rice University Technical Services Manager, Facilities and Engineering.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Rice University Archaeological Project records, 1997
Status
Under Revision
Author
Mary Tobin
Date
2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

Broaden your search:
Texas Archival Resources Online - statewide search of archival finding aids
ArchiveGrid - international search of archival finding aids
Scholarship.rice.edu - Rice University digital content

Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892