Today's artifact of the day is unusual in that we have only one example of it (that I know of) from all our excavations at Port Tobacco. Given the number of residents and visitors passing through the town, one would imagine that many of these disposable objects would have been in use at any given time and many more would have found their way into the town's trash.
Today's artifact is a toothbrush carved out of mammal bone. The truth is that toothbrushes were not the popular item they are now back in "historic times". Entire families were known to have shared a toothbrush, if they even owned one. Even more "interesting" is that taverns may have one or two brushes for guests to use.
So in honor of today's artifact, give those pearly whites a little extra attention today.
-April
Wow, that is a beautiful example of a handle. Too bad the head wasn't located so that you would know whether it was trepanned or wire drawn.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, is there a structure that you have associated this artifact with? Great find. Hope everything is going well down there!
~Amanda
This toothbrush is from the 2008 excavation of the Wade House cellar. The Wade House was adjacent to the Centennial Hotel on the southwest edge of the village green/public square.
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