Archaeology Dig Diary August 08, 2005

Archaeology Dig Diary - Monday, Aug 08

For the first time ever, we closed the site last week due to hot weather. The combination of high humidity and triple digit temperatures seemed dangerous to us, so the crew went inside to wash, sort, label, and bag artifacts.

The excavation area is over 4000 square feet and will expand to 4500 square feet in the next two weeks.

Structure Under the Ice House

The team started this excavation by removing the backfill from the smallish excavation unit placed in the cellar last year. The backfill was wet and smelly. Once the fill was gone the cellar's stratigraphy was exposed and drawn. The plan is to bisect the cellar long-ways, removing one layer at a time.

The top layer was excavated first, revealing a number of very interesting 19th-century artifacts including those related to the Civil War. This layer was deposited after the structure was abandoned and the stones that made up the cellar foundation were robbed (recycled for use in later structures).

Structure On the Hill

We still have not fully uncovered this building(s). The north and west ends still elude us. I am beginning to think that there are just two structures in this area, but it will be weeks before we know for sure. On the north side of a mortared section of stone wall, excavators recovered large concentrations of 18th-century artifacts. These finds appear to be domestic in nature, providing the first clues about the function of this building(s).