Historical archaeologists and others trying to date historical sites by means of the artifacts found on them are increasingly interested in common items manufactured during the lifetimes of people still living. This dating guide is intended to provide a simple source for the most common artifacts found in archaeological or historic contexts.
Cathy Spude compiled the following dating information for use by the public and professionals.
References Cited
ALLEN, OLIVER E.
1995 “Sticky Business,” Invention and Technology (winter): 48-52.
BCCN
1985 “50 Years of Canned Beers,” Beer Can Collectors’ News Report Special Edition.
BULL, DONALD, MANDRED FREIDRICH AND ROBERT GOTSCHALK
1984 American Breweries. Bullworks, Trumbull, Connecticutt.
BUSCH, JANE
1987 “Second Time Around: A Look at Bottle Reuse,” Historical Archaeology 21(1): 67-80.
CADY, LEW
1976 Beer Can Collecting: America’s Fastest Growing Hobby. Grosset and Dunlap, New York.
DOUGLAS, R. W. AND SUSAN FRANK
1972 A History of Glassmaking. G. T. Foulis, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA
1973 “Aluminum,” Encyclopedia Britannica (1): 693-694, Chicago.
1973 “Cigarette,” Encyclopedia Britannica (5): 767-768, Chicago.
1973 “Tobacco,” 1973 Encyclopedia Britannica (22): 46-47, Chicago.
EVERETTE, J. F.
1982 “Bottle Closures,” in Beer Packaging: A Manual for the Brewing and Beverage Industries, edited by Harold M. Broderick. Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Madison, Wisconsin.
FRIEDEL, ROBERT
1987 “The First Plastics,” American Heritage of Invention and Technology (Summer): 18-23.
JONES, OLIVE AND CATHERINE SULLIVAN
1985 The Parks Canada Glass Glossary for the Description of Containers, Tableware, Flat Glass and Closures. Studies in Archaeology, Architecture and History. Parks Canada, Ottawa.
KAPLAN, SAMUEL R. (editor)
1982 Beverage World: 100 Year History 1882-1982 and Future Probe. Keller Publishing, Great Neck, New York.
KING, ROBERT
1991 “Plastics in Archaeological Sites: A Brief History.” A paper presented to the Alaska Anthropological Association, Anchorage, Alaska.
KROLL, WAYNE L.
1976 Badger Breweries, Past and Present. Wayne L. Kroll, Jefferson, Wisconsin.
KYVIG, DAVID E.
1979 Repealing National Prohibition. University of Chicago, Chicago.
LIEF, ALFRED
1965 A Closeup of Closures: History and Progress. Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, New York.
MILLER, GEORGE L. AND TONY MCNICHOL
2002 “Dates For Suction Scarred Bottoms: Chronological Changes in Owens Machine-Made Bottles.” Paper presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Mobile, Alabama.
PETROSKI, HENRY
1993 The Evolution of Useful Things. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
PFEIFFER, MICHAEL
2002 Personal Communication. Email to Catherine H. Spude dated December 30, 2002. “I first saw a totally disposable cigarette lighter in 1969. My father had a plastics factory and he was given it as example to bid on making more. It was the summer I was home on leave from the army and was supposed to be going to Viet Nam. I think that is why he gave it to me. I still have that one in my collection.”
SACHAROW, STANLEY
1978 A Packaging Primer. Magazines for Industry, New York.
WARD, ALBERT E., EMILY K. ABBINK AND JOHN R. STEIN
1977 “Ethnohistorical and Chronological Basis of the Navajo Material Culture,” in Settlement and Subsistence Along the Lower Chaco River: The CGP Survey. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
WRIGHT, LARRY (editor)
1976 The Beer Can. Great Plains Living Press, Matteson, Illinois.
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