Pioneer pottery - pieces of the past

Two archaeologists from Michigan are bringing to light a fascinating period of Salt Lake City's history.

Back then, the creations of pioneer craftsmen were so prized that residents paid more for them than for imported goods. Children hung around pottery shops, swapping information about clay deposits for marbles that the potter made. And the best way to store food was to preserve it in sealed ceramic crocks kept in ice houses.

"This is an amazing site, and we've worked really hard to get just to this point," said Timothy James Scarlett, assistant professor in the relatively new field of industrial archaeology. Based at Michigan Technical University in Houghton, he called the dig exciting, satisfying and provocative.

"It's really interesting," said grad student Chris Merritt, also of Michigan Tech. "That's why I got into archaeology in the first place. In history you read about it; in archaeology you get your hands on it."

The site, near 600 South and 300 East, is private property whose owner is glad to have Scarlett excavate. Since his grad-student days, Scarlett has focused on the subject of early Utah pottery.

Scarlett maintains a Web site on the subject, "Utah Pottery Project Homepage" www.ss.mtu.edu/faculty/Scarlett/Research/UPP/upphome.htm and updates a Web log detailing the discoveries.

For this project he's self-funded, using tools loaned by archaeologists of Wasatch-Cache National Forest and others. "I took an unpaid leave of absence and gave up my apartment" to carry out the dig, Scarlett said.

"I'm out of money," he added. As of July 30 the project will wrap up. Staff members at This is the Place Heritage Park will help backfill the excavated material, restoring the yard.

For now, the rectangular pit is the size of a large backyard wading pool. Thick tree roots snake along, exposed by the dig but supported by ridges of earth that the archaeologists left. The skull of a dog, probably a pet buried here, lies uncovered in the dark earth. Nearby are broken pieces of terra cotta. Beyond is a stone foundation wall.

This was one of the workshops of a prosperous potter from Denmark, Frederick Petersen. A convert to the LDS Church, Petersen immigrated to Utah in 1852 as an apprentice. After the master potter died about 1859, the apprentice set up his own kiln.

"We're absolutely certain he was here by the middle of the 1860s," Scarlett said.

The Petersens' large adobe home was a landmark in the neighborhood with its terra-cotta roof, and the potter's wives were famous as "the three weavers."