The following categorized links are to websites that may assist in filling out an artifact quarterly report and can provide information for various types of artifacts likely encountered by the Hobby Licensee in the waterways of South Carolina. Use these sites as a first step to identifying artifacts recovered for the quarterly report, and if you have any questions about an artifact please contact the MRD office for assistance. The MRD also offers Artifact Identification Workshops to assist divers and non-divers in identifying artifacts commonly found in and around our state's waters.

Lithics:

• The Lithics Site is a resource for archaeological lithic analysis and contains a number of links pertinent to the study of lithics.

Prehistoric Ceramics:

• Guide to Native American Pottery of South Carolina is maintained by SCIAA and introduces the reader to the pottery we find in SC and the literature that defines it. In preparing this useful resource, archaeologist Carl Steen has provided numerous site reports and papers on pottery analysis, use, and maintenance.

Historic Ceramics:

• The Florida Museum of Natural History's Historical Archaeology Digital Type Collection is an on-line type collections of historic period archaeological ceramics (1492-1850) predominately found in Florida, but also applicable to the southeastern region.
• The Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory's Diagnostic Artifacts website provides an introduction to some of the most significant types of artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in Maryland, but many of these artifacts have a far broader geographical range than just Maryland. The site offers three areas: prehistoric ceramics, historic ceramics, and small artifacts.

Bottles:

• The Bureau of Land Management/Society for Historical Archaeology’s Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information website provides information to assist in dating and identifying utilitarian bottles from the 1800s and 1950s in the US and Canada.
• "Blob Tops and Soda Water" by George Pledger, a Hobby Licensed Diver and avocational archaeologist.

Cans

• The Jim Rock Historic Can Collection contains images of historic cans assembled by Jim Rock over his career as an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Yreka, CA. He compiled information and provided typologies and dating techniques, including examination of seams, closures, openings, materials composition, etc. that have enabled archaeologists and historians to better interpret historical archaeological sites. 

Clay Pipes:

• ClayPipes.com is devoted to the study and dissemination of information about clay tobacco pipes, and involves various fields including history, art, technology, and archaeology.

Civil War Artillery:

• The Civil War Artillery Projectiles and Cannon site was designed to help the visitor to better understand the variety of Civil War artillery projectiles used by the Confederate and Federal forces during the War Between the States.

Maps and Charts:

• Trails allows the user to position a location on a USGS topographical map, or satellite imagery, which is useful for preparing a map of a dive site. Click to place a center marker, and then zoom down and then move the site under the center marker to indicate its position. You can also obtain the coordinates for the site.
• SCIWAY.net, South Carolina's Information Highway, has made many useful historical charts, plats, and maps available to the public.
• The Archaeological Society of South Carolina website provides a number of links to modern and historical maps and charts of South Carolina, along with other helpful links to archaeological resources.

If you are having difficulty identifying an artifact after using the above resources, send a description and photograph of the object to mrd@sc.edu.  Make sure to give us a good description, tell us where you found it, and attach some pictures.  We'll identify it or will find someone who might be able to help identify it.

If you have found other websites with information on artifacts or general archaeological resources useful to preparing your quarterly reports please inform us so that we may share the link with your fellow hobby divers.

MRD note: some sites offer artifacts for purchase and we do not endorse the sale of artifacts recovered from archaeological contexts.