In the summer of 2022, Dr. Alanna Ossa enlisted a group of students to complete an archeological field school at the Richardson-Bates House Museum, to learn more about the eating and lifestyle habits of the museum’s families.

In the summer of 2022, Dr. Alanna Ossa—professor of Anthropology at SUNY Oswego—enlisted a group of eleven students to complete a field school at the Richardson-Bates House Museum. The goal was to learn more about the eating and lifestyle habits of the Richardson and Bates families.

Talk of doing an archaeological dig at the House had been happening since early 2020. An initial ground survey proved that the site had promise, but the discovery of an architectural map from 1937 provided a definitive location for the site. The map shows a small area between the octagonal shed and the garage labeled the “Rubbish Area”. The theory was that this is where the group would have the best chance of finding kitchen scraps and general trash that would allow us to peek into the unwritten lives of the families.

In total, over 500 artifacts were unearthed. Bones, ceramic shards, glass—all of these things were found during the dig. This exhibit will break down the main findings of the dig, including what we know the families were eating, what kinds of tableware they were using, and other unexpected discoveries.