Officers Row Privies on Fort Snelling’s Upper Post (Jeremy Nienow, 2023 CMA Conference)

Описание: 2023 CMA Conference

Presented by: Jeremy L. Nienow (Nienow Cultural Consultants LLC)
Officers Row Privies on Fort Snelling’s Upper Post

Beginning in April of 2021 and continuing through 2023, Nienow Cultural Consultants LLC has been conducting archaeological monitoring of ground disturbing activities associated with the transformative revitalization of Fort Snelling’s Upper Post into the Upper Post Flats, an affordable housing community with special preference for United States military members, veterans, their dependents, first responders, and Veterans Administration employees. Although copious amounts of archaeological research, identification survey, and evaluation had been completed prior to monitoring efforts, the sheer number of new utilities, building foundation work, and new landscaping was bound to uncover previously unknown features. An excellent example of this was the discovery of three privies along the back side of Officer’s Row, which had been built for shared use by early inhabitants ahead of completed indoor plumbing. Emergency evaluation efforts revealed an intriguing set of materials from a discrete period between 1879 to 1892. This paper will summarize the methods used to evaluate these privies, share highlights from the artifact assemblage, and provide some tantalizing insights into the preferences and proclivities of Officer’s Row inhabitants in the later 19th Century.