Pioneer pottery - pieces of the past

Fragments of terra-cotta roofing tile, made by the pottery, may have fallen from Petersen house, to be replaced by more homemade tile. "Almost everyone had wood shingles," he said. The fragments will show how the tiles were made. "We can see the tool marks and the mold marks," Scarlett said. Kenyon Kennard, curator at This Is the Place Heritage Park, visited the dig Thursday with his 10-year-old daughter, Lily.

In the 19th century LDS Church leaders felt that "through these crafts they could provide a society where everyone would have work," he said, a society where crafts were valued. For example, they "sent missionaries to proselytize potters in Staffordshire, England," famous then and now for pottery manufacturing.

Potters who joined the church and came to Utah helped communities be self-sufficient.

At the time, a pioneer ideal was to purchase locally-made goods, he said. Later, "they began to assimilate into broader American culture."

Lily watched the archaeologists work. "It's really cool," she said. "I just like the pottery and stuff."

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