Unveiling craftsmanship: An analysis of cuts and kerfs in an 18th-century coffin from the Historic First Baptist Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia (1722–1859)

Excavations of the historical burial ground of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia yielded approximately 400 individual burials, the majority of coffins from which were severely degraded. Documentation of coffin construction in colonial and post-colonial America is scarce. One adult coffin from the site, preserved in remarkable condition, was selected for detailed examination to address this gap. Careful disassembly, as part of a structural conservation treatment, facilitated the study of carpentry techniques employed in the coffin's design, as well as the recording of comprehensive measurements of its dimensions. One key carpentry technique, kerf bending, found in multiple locations across the coffin, represents ingenuity on the part of its maker and may be a feature of eighteenth-century American coffin design more common than previously thought.