Diagnostic Artifacts

Welcome to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory’s Diagnostic Artifacts website. This site has been created to provide an introduction to some of the most significant types of datable artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Our goal is to assist the professional archaeologist, and anyone else with an interest in Maryland archaeology, to recognize the objects typically found here, and to become familiar with the descriptive terms commonly used in this area. But many of these artifacts have a far broader geographical range than just the Mid-Atlantic, so we hope the website will be of use to a wide audience.

The site includes both essays about particular artifact types and comparative galleries of objects in the collections of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab and from elsewhere. To use the site, select one of the sections below.