Research Resources

Welcome to the "Research Resources" pages at sha.org. We created these pages to highlight resources whose content are SHA-approved, but are not necessarily created and copy edited to conform with SHA style and format.

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Artifact Cataloging System

This is a cooperative effort intended to provide users with an artifact catalog system suitable for mid 19th to early 20th century archaeological sites. SHARD is a cataloging system and relational database built on MS Office Access. It comes complete with a How-to Manual and example tables.

Common 20th Century Artifacts - A Guide to Dating

Historical archeologists and others trying to date historical sites by means of the artifacts found on them are increasingly interested in common items manufactured during the lifetimes of people still living. This dating guide is intended to provide a simple source for the most common artifacts found in archeological or historic contexts.

Conservation FAQs and Facts

This module is intended both to provide answers to commonly asked questions and to serve as a resource kit. It was created in response to queries received from archaeologists.

Curation Standards

Standards and guidelines developed by The Society for Historical Archaeology with the explicit goals of permitting the long-term preservation of archaeological collections and maintaining their research and public education values.

Historic Bottle Identification

This is a cooperative effort intended to provide users with a practical tool for historic bottle identification.

Parks Canada Resources

This is a cooperative effort intended to provide users with a series of useful Parks Canada publications. Parks Canada retains copyright of its publications, and they are made available here, courtesy of Parks Canada.

Newsletter Articles

These articles are excerpted from the SHA's quarterly newsletter. They provide a venue for sharing methods and results of historical archaeological projects

Online Bibliographies

Bibliographies provide an excellent way of organizing previous research, and assist researchers in locating sometimes hard-to-find references.

Electrical Porcelain Resource by Jack Tod

Jack Tod produced several excellent illustrated texts on Electrical Porcelain, and thanks to one of Mr. Tod's longtime friends, Elton Gish, the SHA is pleased to announce that some of his works are available online to aid researchers and enthusiasts alike. Please follow the link to Elton Gish's website which includes a biography of Mr. Tod and downloadable copies of some of his research.

Online NSW Archaeology Grey-Literature Database

NSW Archaeology On-Line is a sustainable digital archive of information about the archaeology and heritage of important cultural places in New South Wales. Stage 1 of the project makes a collection of previously unpublished 'grey-literature' reports discoverable, searchable and publicly accessible on-line for the first time. Most reports were created before mid-late 1990s in hard-copy format only. They document archaeological field survey, excavation and heritage assessment projects conducted under the NSW Heritage Act and are an important resource for research, education, heritage interpretation and management.

Presentation of the archive is a partnership between University of Sydney Library and the Archaeology of Sydney Research Group. The University of Sydney Library provides access to the collection. Stage 1 was funded by a NSW Heritage Grant 2009-11.

Perspectives from Historical Archaeology: Subject and Regional Readers in Historical Archaeology

Perspectives from Historical Archaeology are subject and regional readers on a variety of topics of interest to archaeologists and scholars in related fields. Each volume includes an introduction by the compiler with reviews historical archaeology's work on the topic. Perspectives issues are available in both perfect bound and pdf formats.  The first of the new Perspectives Series of Readers is African Diaspora Archaeology, compiled by Chris Fennell.  To purchase readers from the Perspectives Series, click here.

The Society for Historical Archaeology Forum on Collections Management

Collections management forum.  Resources about handling of collections and issues of the curation crisis, click here.

Be sure to visit the SHA Publications pages, too.

For additional research resources that have been peer-reviewed and copy edited to SHA style, please visit the Publications pages and view the options available under SHA Online, including past SHA Journal articles, Guides to Literature, Special Publications, and Underwater Archaeology Proceedings.

In addition, please see the Technical Briefs on the Publications pages. Technical Briefs in Historical Archaeology is an electronic peer-reviewed publication series devoted to the fast dissemination of shorter specialized technical papers in historical archaeology, maritime archaeology, material culture technology and materials conservation. Book reviews published in Historical Archaeology during 2006 (vol. 40, nos. 2, and 4) were posted on the SHA webiste.


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