Baker's Standard Flavoring Extracts bottle, 14MM327
Date: 1880-1962
A bottle recovered from the original site of the Adair Cabin in Osawatomie, Kansas. It's bold lettering announces that it once held Baker's Standard Flavoring Extract made by the Baker Extract Company of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bark and Quillwork Container
Date: Unknown
This container was made by sewing layered strips of bark together. Porcupine quills were dyed and used to decorate the container. The bottom portion was decorated with a repeating cross and diamond pattern, most of which is now missing. The lid has the same pattern on the sides and the top is a red eight pointed star with a yellow center, edged in white cane. The container was first donated to the Kaw Mission, Council Grove, Kansas, and then to the Kansas Historical Society in 1980. It may have originated in northern Michigan. Kaw Mission was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Birch Bark Box
Date: Unknown
This rectangular birch bark box was embroidered with dyed porcupine quills in a floral pattern. It measures 8cm x 10cm x 5.8cm and had a hinged lid. The initials P\T are on the base. It was donated first to the First Territorial Capital at Fort Riley and then in 1962 to the Kansas Historical Society. The First Territorial Capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Candlestick Holder from Fort Hays, 14EL301
Date: 1867-1889
This candlestick holder was excavated at Fort Hays in Ellis County. It was recovered in four pieces and reconstructed. Once someone's proud possession, the holder is quite colorful and has an unusual leaf shape. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a State Historic Site.

Central Plains tradition Vessel from 14OT1
Date: 1050-1400 CE
When the individual sherds of this vessel were reconstructed it showed it to be a typical Central Plains tradition pot. It was found in the remains of an earthlodge in an Indian village in Ottawa County. Vessels of this sort tend to be rounded or globular in shape, have a restricted neck and grit temper. A cord-wrapped paddle was used to make the roughened surface treatment of this otherwise undecorated pot. Archeologists used plaster to fill in the missing portions of the vessel.

Ceramic Vessel from the Nulik Site, 14SR305
Date: 1000-1500 CE
The broken sherds from this small pot were recovered during excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at the Nulik site in Sumner County. The pot's maker incised an undulating mark around the shoulder of the vessel. Then molded clay was added along the line. Most of the molded clay has now fallen off and the traces of the incised guide line are faint. When archeologists reconstructed the pot later they added plaster to fill in the missing spaces. The excavations revealed a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) house and associated midden (refuse heap or mound).

Cigar store Indian
Creator: Hen, Edward
Date: 1871
Painted wooden cigar store Indian. Brought to Topeka in 1871 by Henry Moeser (1837-1876), who operated a cigar store in the 100 block of Kansas Avenue from about 1870 to 1876. The figure was reportedly also later displayed at the Windsor House Hotel, which operated at the corner of Kansas Avenue and 7th Street from 1882 to 1889. Moeser is believed to have acquired the carving from the New York tobacco supply house of Edward Hen.

Container from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, 14JO362
Date: 1850-1930
This container, sometimes called a trinket box, was found at the Shawnee Methodist Mission. The pot has a solid brass rim and ledge around the pot opening and three cone shaped brass feet. The enameled pot is decorated in a scroll and floral cloisonned (separated by strips of flattened wire) motif in blue, gold, white, red, pink, black and green. The interior is green. The dome shaped lid is decorated with a scroll cloisonned technique in red and blue. The interior of the lid is green enamel. The small hole on the lid's top may have held a finial.

Covered Dish from Fool Chief's Village Cache, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
This dish and its lid, both missing their handles, were recovered from a cache pit at the Fool's Chief village excavations. Fool's Chief village was a Kansa village in Shawnee County occupied from 1830 to 1844. The cache pit was located inside a bark house. The cache pit contained this octagonal dish and lid decorated in a red, green, blue and black floral motif, in addition to a bed pan, knives, hoes, an ax, barrel bands, vermillion, mussel shell and a chain and hook that had been carefully stored for future use.

Creek Bowl
Date: Unknown
This complete Creek bowl was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1915. The Creek Indians, also called the Creek Confederacy or the Muscogee, lived in southeastern America in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. The majority of the Creek people were later forcibly removed to Oklahoma. The bowl's rough surface has not been glazed or painted, but does show firing clouds, darkened areas on the surface of a vessel caused by uneven firing.

Crucifix Holder from Fort Hays, 14EL301
Date: 1867-1889
This crucifix holder was excavated from historic Fort Hays in Ellis County. Faint lettering on the front reads "ECCO HOMO," translated as "Behold (the) Man." Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a State Historic Site.

Dismal River Vessel from El Cuartelejo, 14SC1
Date: 1575-1625 CE
This Dismal River pottery vessel was recovered from the El Cuartelejo site in Scott County. The micaeous (mica in the clay) pot was reconstructed from many individual sherds, with the spaces filled in with plaster. It stands 16 cm high. The El Cuartelejo site is the only known Plains Apache Pueblo in the Kansas and is further east than any other Pueblo.

Doll Head from Fort Hays, 14EL301
Date: 1867-1889
This china doll head was excavated in 1966 at Fort Hays in Ellis County. China doll heads are described by their hair style. This doll, with her center parted hair and comb marks on the side most resembles those of the 1850s and 1860s. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a State Historic Site.

Dr. D. Jayne Liniment or Counterirritant Bottle from the Iowa and Sac and Fox Mission, 14DP384
Date: 1831-1905
This aqua patent medicine bottle was recovered from excavations at the Iowa and Sac and Fox Mission in Doniphan County. The medicine was advertised as being for "sprains, bruises, etc." David Jayne, 1798/99-1866, offered various cures from 1831 onward. The medicinal line continued to make the products after Jayne's death. The Presbyterian Mission was built in 1845 and closed in 1863. After that part of the building was razed, the rest was used as a residence until 1905. The State of Kansas acquired to property in 1941.

Dr. D. Jayne's Expectorant Bottle
Date: 1831-1930
This patent medicine bottle was recovered from the surface at Fort Riley in the main cantonment area. It carries the embossed lettering of "Dr. D. Jayne's Expectorant." David Jayne, 1798/99-1866, offered various cures from 1831 onward. The medicinal line continued to make the expectorant after Jayne's death.

Dr. D. Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge Bottle
Date: 1916-1929
This bottle was found at a multicomponent site in Osage County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2014. Archeologists use the term multicomponent to indicate a site has been occupied periodically throughout time. At this site, artifacts indicate intermittent occupations from the Archaic, Early Ceramic, and Middle Ceramic Periods in addition to a modern occupation. The wording on the patent medicine bottle of Tonic Vermifuge proclaims it to be made by Dr. D. Jayne's of Philadelphia. A bottle maker's mark on the bottom shows that the bottle was made by the Illinois Glass Company between 1916-1929.

Dr. Price's Special Flavoring Extracts Bottle
Date: 1874-1883
This complete extract bottle was recovered from the excavation at the Iowa Sac and Fox Mission in Doniphan County. Dr. Vincent Clarence Price (1832-1914, grandfather of the actor Vincent Price) manufactured and distributed baking powder, flavorings, and other foods. Price joined in partnership with Charles R. Steele from 1874 to 1883 to make the "most perfect made in Vanilla, Lemon, Orange, Etc" flavorings "prepared from true fruits." The Presbyterian Mission was built in 1845 and closed in 1863. After that part of the building was razed, the rest was used as a residence until 1905. The State of Kansas acquired to property in 1941.

Enamelware Pitcher from the Thomas Johnson/Henry Williams Dugout Site, 14GH102
Date: 1877-1910
This enamelware pitcher was recovered during the 2007 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Thomas Johnson/ Henry Williams Dugout site. The pitcher is decorated with marbled cobalt blue and white enamelware, a process first invented in Germany in the 1760s as a way to coat iron so as to prevent rust and a metallic taste in food and drink. In America enamelware production began in the 1870s and continued until the 1930s. For this piece, after its life as a pitcher had passed, it served as a target, being hit at least seven times. The Thomas Johnson/ Henry Williams Dugout site was a domestic site related to the settlement of Nicodemus, an all black community in western Kansas.

Gothic Pepper Sauce Bottle from Quindaro, 14WY314
Date: 1857-1863
This Gothic style pepper sauce bottle was excavated from the Quindaro Townsite, an archaeological district now part of Kansas City, KS. These bottles are sometimes more common called Cathedral style because the panels appear to display cathedral windows.

Grasshopper Falls phase Early Ceramic Vessel From the Booth Site, 14JN349
Date: 1-1000 CE
This reconstructed pottery vessel was found at the Booth site, a hamlet in Jackson County, Kansas. The pot was reconstructed from many sherds, with the spaces filled in with plaster. The vessel is from the Grasshopper Falls phase which occurred during the Early Ceramic period. A cord-wrapped paddle was used to make the roughened surface treatment of this vessel.

Great Bend aspect Little River focus Vessel from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1300-1650 CE
This pottery vessel was found at the Paint Creek village in McPherson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. The pot was reconstructed from two large sherds, with the spaces filled in with plaster. The Paint Creek site is part of the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Great Bend aspect Little River focus Vessel from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1300-1650 CE
This pottery vessel was found at the Paint Creek village in McPherson County. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. The pot, which is shell tempered, was reconstructed from many individual sherds, with the spaces filled in with plaster. The Paint Creek site is part of the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Great Bend Aspect Vessel from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This Great Bend aspect jar was recovered from the Paint Creek site in McPherson County, and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1961. The donor reconstructed the vessel, filling in the missing pieces with colored plaster. The jar has two loop handles and a somewhat constricted orifice and is probably an example of Geneseo Red Filmed ware. Great Bend aspect villages, often called ancestral Wichita villages, were occupied during the Late Ceramic period.

Great Bend aspect Vessel from the Saxman Site, 14RC301
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This Great Bend aspect vessel section was recovered from the Saxman site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. These ceramic sherds were reconstructed by the donor. The vessel has grit temper and a smoothed-over cord marked exterior surface. The Saxman site, a large Great Bend aspect village, was occupied by the ancestral Wichita.

Greenwood Phase Vessel from the Curry Site, 14GR301
Date: 1200-1400 CE
This reconstructed vessel was recovered in fragmented sherds from the Curry site in Greenwood County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. The vessel has an elongated body with a conical base. It shows six lace crack holes, which were drilled into the sherds after a crack developed and then laced with some type of material such a leather. An orange colored plaster was added to fill in the empty spaces during reconstruction. The Curry site was a multicomponent (multiple occupations) site occupied periodically during the Archaic, Early Ceramic and Middle Ceramic Periods.