Churchkey found just below the topsoil.

We had an interesting find this week, an odd shaped metal object which is often referred to as a churchkey. Before you get too excited, a churchkey is neither an actual key nor is it in any way related to a church. A churchkey is a metal tool used to open alcoholic beverages. After identifying it, we started to question how this simple object got this interesting and completely misleading name.

First, we needed to know a bit about the beverage industry. A churchkey is a simple, hand operated device used for prying the cap off a glass or metal bottle (thanks to wikipedia for this definition!). Specifically, it was invented for use with ‘crown cork’ caps, the caps seen today on most modern beer bottles and invented in 1898 by the Crown Cork and Seal Company of Baltimore (worldwidewords.org).

In 1935, companies began selling beer in cans. The first alcohol sold in a can was Krueger’s Ale and Krueger’s Beer in Richmond, Virginia, both of which were in a type of can known as a flat top. As pull-tabs were not yet invented (beer connoisseurs would have to wait until 1962 for that convenience), a metal tool was developed with a sharp point which, when pressed into the top of the can, would create a triangular hole through which the beer was consumed.

Because they fulfilled the same purpose, these new openers were likewise called churchkeys, even though they were morphologically quite different than the original (worldwidewords.org). Today, churchkeys are often multipurpose tools and are more likely to be paired with a corkscrew than the triangular punching end.

So what is the etymology of the term churchkey? It’s unclear, but it seems that the main reason lies in the overall shape of the original churchkeys. Simply put, the circular end of the tool reminded people of an old-fashioned key, the kind of key most people would associate with a church. While this seems the most logical answer to the mystery, it is also suggested that the term was applied ironically as drinking, particularly before and during the Prohibition-age when this tool was first invented, was villified by many religious groups in the United States.     - Posted by Jasmine Gollup

Sometimes, even the most mundane items can spark curiosity and intrigue in archaeology. Such is the case with one particular artifact  recovered during our excavations around Margaret Brent Hall: a green glass Sprite bottle that is fully intact. This seemingly uninteresting glass bottle, upon further research and inspection, piqued my curiousity. Imprinted on the bottom of the bottle were the words “FORT SUMTER NATL MONU.” This was what got the wheels turning in my head. I wondered why the name of a National Park in Charleston, South Carolina would be on the bottom of a Sprite bottle, and will this information help date the bottle more precisely? Fort Sumter is the site of a significant fortification which began construction after the War of 1812, but it took until the beginning of the Civil War to complete. It is the site of the first battle of the Civil War.

Preliminary research showed that Sprite made its debut in the United States in 1961, so surely our find could not have dated before this. While looking for an explanation for the words on the bottom of the bottle, I discovered an article entitled “Our National Parks” which explains that, in 1966, the National Park Service initiated Operation Golden Eagle in an attempt to promote National Parks in the United States. This promotion included the plan to advertise the names of 36 different National Parks on the bottom of Sprite bottles to highlight the richness of our national treasures at these parks.

So, the Sprite bottle that we uncovered in our excavations is not only interesting because it was found complete, which is a rarity in archaeology, but also because it can be so precisely dated to 1966. It gives us a glimpse into the attitude of the country when it was created, and shows us the cultural legacy of valuing national parks is not a recent phenomenon.

Being able to precisely date an artifact to a single year is no small feat in archaeology, and though this artifact is modern, it shows us that just a little bit of research can go a long way and provide us with invaluable insight into the past.

-Posted by Justin Warrenfeltz