Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Degree
Master of Science in Applied Anthropology
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Committee Chair
Elizabeth Sobel
Abstract
The historical archaeology of domesticity and consumption relies heavily on the analysis of ceramic tableware artifacts. Few archaeologists have seriously incorporated analyses of glass tableware into this body of research, even though glass tableware was intensively marketed and is a common and durable domestic artifact class. My research addresses this problem through a study of glass tableware from Victorian Age (1830s – 1900s) residential sites in St. Louis, Missouri. This is done, in part, by adapting methods of historic ceramic artifact analysis to the analysis of historic glassware. Applying it in a historical archaeological study of household consumption in relation to domesticity in Victorian age St. Louis assesses the utility of this method. The results indicate that whether it is used independently or in conjunction with ceramic analysis, glass tableware analysis can contribute significantly to the historical archaeology of domesticity and consumption. Archaeologists can do this painlessly by using the method developed and applied in this study, rather than continue to fail to take advantage of the contributions of glass tableware analysis.
Keywords
historical archaeology, 19th century, St. Louis, glass tableware, domesticity, consumerism
Subject Categories
Anthropology
Copyright
© Grace Lynn Gronniger
Recommended Citation
Gronniger, Grace Lynn, "Setting The Table In 19Th Century St. Louis: The Utility Of Glass Tableware Analysis In The Archaeology Of Domesticity And Consumerism" (2016). MSU Graduate Theses. 2386.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2386
