Life Underfoot

Life Underfoot. . , Household Archaeology at Fort Snelling, Fort Snelling was a military base but it was also a home to soldiers, administrators, workers, and their families., One of the ways to learn about the domestic lives of people at the Upper Post is by looking at the things they left behind. Archaeologists excavated sites all over the Upper Post, sifting through layers of soil that represent generations of people who called this place home. The artifacts, from porcelain teacups to clay marbles, discarded pomade jars to whiskey bottles, help illustrate how people lived their daily lives here at the Fort., Arita-ware cup, Setting the table, The people who lived here at the Upper Post in the 1800s had household items from around the world. Archaeologists found delicate Japanese and French porcelain and other ceramic tableware from England. Nearly all the tableware was elaborately decorated. These items were imported to the United States and brought to the Fort by the men and women who lived here., Red Transferware Dish, What are you going to wear?, Archaeology at the Upper Post tells us about choices residents at the Fort made about how they looked. Buttons from military and civilian clothes show the types of garments regularly worn at the Fort. Remnants of a nineteenth-century shoe highlight the fashion choices made by the women who lived here and the factors that shaped those choices. Grooming tools, including hair pins and combs, reflect on the ways that residents dressed and maintained their hair. Jars for perfumes and pomades were also found in household privies., Ajax Comb, General Service Button, Officer's Quarters, 1938 Quartermaster Records, Fort Snelling, Minnesota Historical Society, Why look in a privy?, It might seem strange to use your toilet as a trash can, but before houses had indoor bathrooms (or regular garbage collection), it was common to use your privy to get rid of things you no longer needed. Many of the items described here were found during excavations of privies near the Upper Post's residential buildings., Excavation of privies at Officers Row, Lambie Bethune Druggist Bottle, F.H. Hainert Druggist Bottle, Feeling under the weather?, Just as we do today, nineteenth-century residents of the Upper Post purchased medicines in stores and by mail to use at home. Medicine bottles and jars were found during excavations here at the Upper Post. Some bottles came from local pharmacies. Others can be traced to pharmacies from further away, including New York and Chicago. Archaeologists also found patent medicine containers and early Bayer pharmaceutical bottles at the site., Growing up at the Upper Post, Children of military personnel and later VA hospital staff lived at the Upper Post with their families from the early 1870s through the 1970s. Toys, including dolls, a 1940-era lead cowboy toy, and clay marbles have been excavated here at the Upper Post, and reveal glimpses of the lives of Fort Snelling's youngest inhabitants., Clay Marble, Lead Cowboy Toy adjacent to a preserved example, Except where noted, all images courtesy of Nienow Cultural Consultants L.L.C.