Month: June 2026

Shanti Seth

On May 8th the Ladybugs and I dug up this relatively large piece of iridescent glass. Though it was hard to see when it was all covered in dirt, upon further inspection we could clearly see that it said “THOMAS CTRIC O”.

It stumped us for a moment, but I eventually deduced that it was an old bottle of Thomas Eclectric Oil, which was very popular in this area for its supposed healing properties. I was very excited when we dug this up because I absolutely love vintage medicine bottles.

Dr. Thomas’ Eclectric Oil was used as a snake oil remedy for: toothache, earache, backache, lameness, cough, hoarseness, colds, sore throat, burns, and deafness. The oil was sold from the mid 1840s (though the rights and formula were acquired by the Canadian drug firm Northrop & Lyman, manufactured, and sold on a large scale in Canada in 1871) into the early twentieth century. Its name, which is most likely a portmanteau of “eclectic” and “electric”, due to the idea that electricity could heal you. Though it was advertised as a cure-all, it contained a heavy amount of turpentine and camphor oil. Something I found interesting about the Eclectric Oil was its advertising. I remember on the first day, Kate actually told us that we might find Dr. Thomas Ecectric oil and showed us an old advertisement for it.

I decided to look up the ingredients for the oil, simply because their advertisements promised so much. Turns out the oil is mostly made from turpentine and camphor oil (which is found in many bands of vapor rub) as well as other natural ingredients such as thyme and pine tar oil. With these ingredients, the oil could perhaps help with respiratory congestion, soothe sore muscles and joints, and combat fungal or bacterial growth (though most health professionals will tell you to not put these ingredients directly on the skin without diluting them first), it most certainly could not do everything that the advertising would lead you to believe.

David Panepinto

As this Monday night (May 25th) ends, I find myself coming to terms with the fact that the field school is coming to an end this Friday. So much has been achieved in such a short period of time that I cannot ascertain within myself if time has gone by slowly or fast – it seems like both are true. There are twenty-four students and two instructors that make up this course, all sharing space in close proximity to one another, especially our six-person groups assigned to our operating areas. I can say now that I will miss the teammates in my group and all their individual personalities, humour and stories. To my recollection it seems everyone in the group had a special skill or talent that they shined at and helped make the “Bears” thrive in our many tasks that were accomplished. I am grateful to have met so many outstanding people amongst my student peers in the course. I am grateful to have had Kate and James as instructors who kept the learning environment fun, varied and interesting.

            Throughout the excavations of the various contexts within my teams operating area OA-8, we found many standout artifacts including a 14k pink gold ring, engraved “All my love” as the most notable find. There were many other memorable material remains recovered from the unit and I would like to share another artifact that stood out to me and explain a bit about why it is also a favourite find. Pictured below is a zoomed image of a small shell button.

The button was found by me on May 6^th, the third day of the course and first day ‘in the field.’ Consulting with the onsite artifact expert Kate who described this style of button as falling out of use by the mid-19^th century, as ceramic buttons would take over by the end of the 1850s; and when asked about the origins I was told that it would have been imported from abroad and not manufactured domestically. In that case, this button potentially takes us back to the early occupation period of the site. It is not lost on me that the person that lost this button is long gone, and I am in the remains of their home. This small button is a sort of ‘memento mori’ in a way. I wondered who the person was who wore this button – an adult or child, a little boy or his mother… I imagine the area in my mind of what the site looked like around 180-160 years ago, the landscape and the homestead on it. I wonder who the occupants of the home were and what their daily lives were like, how they coped with biting insects, cold mornings and hot afternoons (not unlike us). I wonder how someone came to lose a button likely from a shirt or blouse. Just a small, easy to lose object about 1cmx1cm has moved me to ponder deeply about the people who called this homestead home throughout the over one century of occupation. For me, that makes this button important – it is a reminder of the human journey, the button is a reminder of ethical obligations, and a symbol of the honour to be a part of the field school.