Archaeology Dig Diary May 15, 2007

Archaeology Dig Diary - 2007

Tuesday, May 15

I know, I know. In 2006, I promised that entries would be in a more timely fashion. A quick perusal of the 2006 diary shows that I did not keep that promise. Regardless, I am making the same pledge for 2007. Like last year, I feel good about this pledge, but only time will tell. As always in archaeology, the interpretations are preliminary in nature and subject to change as new evidence is unearthed.

The 2007 team has started to arrive. Alan came the farthest - San Diego. Juice, Rachel, Heidi, and Becca are back from last year. New members include Anne, Ben, Lauren, Emily, and Irene. Valerie, Bill, Ray, Dale, and Rebecca will volunteer their time at the excavation and Melanie and Erin are leading the lab effort again this year.

Modern pipe trench intruding stone cellar
Overall view of the dig site

We excavated three quarters of the root cellar last summer uncovering a large collection of 18-century finds. The last quarter of the fill from this pit was saved for later generations of archaeologist who will have the benefit of new technology. The artifacts from this feature are washed and are in the process of being cataloged, so it is still difficult to say exactly when the root cellar was filled, but it appears to have been filled around the time Mary Washington left the property.

We also completed our excavation of half of the eastern stone-lined cellar. The top layers contained large amounts of construction debris, and sealed a couple of dark, rich sandy clay layers. The rubble layers postdated the recycling of the stone foundations. We think the dark sandy clay layers formed after the building was abandoned, but before it was dismantled.

Architectural historian, archaeologist, and historian Myron Stachiw visited the site last summer for two days. His well-trained eyes spotted small splotches of red paint on some of the plaster fragments. He suggested paint analysis as a way to explore this new data. He also noted four different types of plaster in the cellar. This plaster was originally attached to a variety of building materials including wood lathing, stone, and brick. He was able to suggest two alternative layouts for the structure. His insights were a great help and we wish him well on his new job in the Ukraine.

Our next expert visitor was Raymond Cannetti—Stonemason to the Stars. He helped us understand the architectural details of the cellar. This summer we will remove half of the fill still in the cellar, once again leaving one quarter of the fill for future generations of archaeologists. We hope to understand what the doorway on the west end of the cellar looked like. Adjacent to the eastern cellar is the western cellar which will be a main area of interest this summer. We will bisect this stone-lined cellar just like we excavated the eastern cellar.

Talk to you soon,
Dave