Artifact Stories from Home

Our homework assignment was to find artifacts with family/historical significance. As each student shared their artifact, or photo, or story, we discussed the different time periods, different materials, and unique purposes represented. It was amazing how further questions started to emerge from the family stories. What did the artifacts tell us about what life was like for the people who lived in those times?

How did the artifacts from home compare with those found in our dig? After observing the artifacts more closely and listening to the stories that went with them, we learned that some were from the same time period as our dig. Examples of these were: the hat stand for making hats, the small glass milk bottle, the headlight from an old Ford car, and sad irons and stand.

Due to how perishable the objects are and their deterioration, most of the artifacts we found in our dig were rusted metal and pieces of glass. If someone in the future found artifacts left over from our garbage, what would they find? We've learned that a plastic bag will last from 10 - 20 years, and a pop bottle will last forever.

Can you speculate what these artifacts were for? When you speculate, you have to use what you know to make an educated guess. It is hard to do this because we are so used to electricity. (Artifacts are from the Turner Valley Interpretive Centre.)