Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Leather folk art

Courtesy Photo | A piece of "leather folk art" recovered from a 2013 archaeology dig at Fort McCoy, Wis., is shown. (Contributed photo by Colorado State University)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

03.21.2019

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

In 2013, archaeologists surveying southwest of South Post Family Housing found a number of artifacts near a location that served as Japanese-American internment camp and later a prisoner-of-war camp.

Hundreds of glass fragments or shards and more than one thousand metal artifacts and fragments were found while investigating the area. Other discoveries included a razor blade case, a broken piece of a music record, a bone button, and a piece of leather with a smiley face carved into it.

Leather is an organic artifact because it was manufactured from once-living materials.

The leather face was interpreted to represent a piece of folk art because it is handmade and fabricated from recycled components.

Leather working is an example of a craft employed by our prehistoric ancestors that is still common today. Wall paintings in Egyptian tombs, which are thousands of years old, appear to show individuals wearing leather clothes and sandals. A tannery was found among the ruins of Pompeii, which was covered by volcanic ash nearly 2,000 years ago.

Leather has been used in furniture manufacturing since the Middle Ages in Europe. In ancient North America, Ancient-era leather artifacts have been found across the US from southeastern states such as Florida to western states such as Wyoming.

Subsequent investigations in the area where the leather face was recovered appear to indicate that the artifact is from a site dated to just after World War I.

Another artifact from this site was fragments of a ledger with the year 1919 stamped on each page.

The site area has been a part of military training exercises since at least the 1920s.

All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was coordinated by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.

Anyone who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.

The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

(Article prepared by Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands.)

• Date Taken: 03.21.2019
• Date Posted: 03.21.2019 13:18
• Story ID: 315194
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US