Check in with us from time to time as we build this page for photos of some of the items found by the architects during their dig.
Dr. Ruth Van Dyke and her students from Binghamton University in New York have done several archaeology digs on the site of the Castro Colonies Living History Center from 2013-2016. One of the students, Patricia Markert, has written an article about some of their findings.
Bottles
We have close to 100 complete or nearly complete bottles from the Biry/Ahr
assemblage. We will include a few examples of soda, liquor, perfume and
medicine bottles. There are many others as well, of these and other kinds.
1919 Coca Cola Bottle
This Coca Cola bottle likely dates to the1920s – the bottle is a style introduced
in 1919 and used for about a decade. It also has “SAN ANTONIO – TEX”
embossed on the bottom, which indicates it was bottled locally. It was found in a slack-lime pit in the backyard of the Biry/Ahr House (known as Feature 9).
Artifacts like these are compelling because we recognize them today, and they connect us to the past – through nostalgia, aesthetic, and familiarity. This particular bottle was actually found in three pieces, which fit together like a puzzle.
1926 Orange Crush Soda Bottle
This soda bottle has a nostalgic quality as well. This design was introduced in the 1926 Illinois Bottling Company catalog. On the bottom, it says “W.B. Wofford & Sons,” which was likely a local bottler in the area. This was also found in the backyard of the Biry/Ahr House (Feature 9).
Dr. Ruth Van Dyke and her students from Binghamton University in New York have done several archaeology digs on the site of the Castro Colonies Living History Center from 2013-2016. One of the students, Patricia Markert, has written an article about some of their findings.
Bottles
We have close to 100 complete or nearly complete bottles from the Biry/Ahr
assemblage. We will include a few examples of soda, liquor, perfume and
medicine bottles. There are many others as well, of these and other kinds.
1919 Coca Cola Bottle
This Coca Cola bottle likely dates to the1920s – the bottle is a style introduced
in 1919 and used for about a decade. It also has “SAN ANTONIO – TEX”
embossed on the bottom, which indicates it was bottled locally. It was found in a slack-lime pit in the backyard of the Biry/Ahr House (known as Feature 9).
Artifacts like these are compelling because we recognize them today, and they connect us to the past – through nostalgia, aesthetic, and familiarity. This particular bottle was actually found in three pieces, which fit together like a puzzle.
1926 Orange Crush Soda Bottle
This soda bottle has a nostalgic quality as well. This design was introduced in the 1926 Illinois Bottling Company catalog. On the bottom, it says “W.B. Wofford & Sons,” which was likely a local bottler in the area. This was also found in the backyard of the Biry/Ahr House (Feature 9).