Introduction

Polychrome hand-painted pearlware recovered during excavations at The National World War II Museum's expansion site.

People often ask archaeologists about things that they find: what is it, and what is it made of? Who made it? How old is it? Is it valuable? What should I do with it? This exhibit will help answer these questions!

In any part of the city where people lived in the past, they likely left things behind. As a result, artifacts might be found anywhere, even in routine work around the yard. In Louisiana, if you are on your own property, what is found there belongs to you, except in the special case of human remains. On the other hand, no unauthorized removal of artifacts or other historical remains is permitted on public land, including city, state, and federal property.

Archaeologists don’t deal with the monetary value of artifacts. For an archaeologist, artifacts are valuable because they tell us about the past and about the people who used them. The best way to preserve an archaeological site or artifact is to leave it alone.

So what are some common artifacts in a city like New Orleans that archaeologists get questions about?  Here are a few of the big categories we see. Click through the following pages to see examples of the most common artifacts that are found on archaeological sites in the New Orleans area, and to learn a little more about the answers to the questions above.