Making a Mark: Dating Analysis of Ceramics from Heaven Hill Farm (2025)

The maker’s marks ceramic companies created to advertise their work are unique to the time and manufacturer, so that they can help establish chronology at archaeological sites. Many marked vessels were discovered during SUNY Potsdam’s 2024 summer field school at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid, New York. Secondary sources that identify common maker’s marks establish chronological ranges that can be keyed to specific layers of the stratigraphic profile unearthed there. Our findings help us understand how and when this site was formed, so that we can ask other research questions about nineteenth-century daily life at Heaven Hill Farm.