Underfoot

  Artifact Sitting on my desk as I write this is a small fragment of broken pottery. Mochaware Sherd It is 3.5cm (about an inch) long 2.5cm (about ¾ inch) wide and .30cm thick (less than ¼ inch). In the language of the archaeologist, it is a body sherd , that is it’s from the middle of a modest-sized vessel, not from the rim (a rim sherd ) or the base (a basal sherd ). It has glazed decoration on the exterior surface of dark, concentric, coffee-colored rings on a tan background, the inside is glazed with that same tan color. The exposed interior of the sherd or paste is buff colored.   The decoration, and the location where this sherd came from, make it fairly easy to identify. It’s a variety of banded slipware sometimes called Mocha-ware. It’s reliably dated to the first third or so of the 19 th century. It may have been manufactured in Great Britain, but it’s more likely that it was made in Central Maryland or Virginia, possibly in the Great Valley only a few miles fr...