Week 1 Survey & Excavation Summary
Today was our first day out in the field and what a day it was! It was a beautiful, sunny, approximately 75 degree Monday afternoon. We began the day with a brief history of the John Brown House. With this newfound knowledge, the only possible next step was to plunge enthusiastically into John Brown’s backyard. We split into two small groups of six. Half the class accompanied Tommy to discover the wonders of geophysics, while the other group of six joined Krysta and Brad for a shovel pit test (STP).
With Tommy, we had the chance to geophysically survey the site where we will eventually dig. We tested the area using an electromagnetic conductor and a magnetometer. Altogether we walked 16 lengths across the site to test for magnetic fields. While half the group was ambitiously learning from Tommy, the rest of the class joined Krysta and Brad in order to test 2 sample pits. Krysta covered the basic setup and layout of gridding for an archaeological excavation. We then proceeded to split up even further into small groups of three where we setup two 50 cm X 50 cm test pits using a compass and measuring tape. Pictures were taken of the units before any digging began. The first step after setup was to remove the top layer of grass from the unit. Then, thin layers of dirt were continuously removed and sifted through for artifact remains. Notes and observations were mandatory throughout the excavation.
In test pit N0-W30, nails and pieces of glass were found. These pieces proved much easier to remove than the large tree root taking up a large portion of our test pit. In N0-W35, there were many fascinating finds. The most intriguing find was a piece of a white tile floor. Other finds included: mortar, concrete like substances and many more rocks (this test pit generally contained more rocks and large conglomerate pieces than the other test pit). It was very interesting to observe the extreme differences in the makeup of the soil between the two test pits, even though they were located a mere 5 meters apart.
The start of the season was filled with many emotions, some artifacts and no lack of enthusiasm. It was as if John Brown himself was watching over us as we began this historical journey into the Brown family’s past.
Fieldnotes provided by Steffi and Kellie
View the images from Week 1's fieldwork
Week 2 Survey & Excavation Summary
Our second day in the field was a hot one, and we tried as much as possible to stick to the shade. Just like last week, our group split into two smaller sections. One of the sections continued work on our two shovel test pits, or STPs, while the other section took a tour of the John Brown House given by Dan Santos of the Rhode Island Historical Society. The tour lasted about half an hour, at which point the two teams switched places.
Inside the John Brown House, our class was given a special look into one of the most impressive colonial houses in America. John Brown, brother of Nicholas Brown, after whom Brown University is named, was one of the most successful businessmen of his time. At his death, his estate's value was estimated at around $600,000, which translates into billions of dollars in today's economy. His house and some of the artifacts that it contains provide a fitting testament to the Browns' wealth and status--their main room alone holds portraits of George and Martha Washington (friends of John Brown) and spectacular pieces of china. In the back of the house is John Brown's Washington Chariot, an aptly named (for its most famous passenger) vehicle with extraordinarily large wheels that is, as Dan put it, a cross between a Hummer and a Bentley. Our tour of the house allowed us to get a glimpse into the lives of the Brown family and also into that of Marsden Perry, a later owner, and also gave us valuable context for the work we are pursing on the outside grounds.
Our main field work today consisted of continuing work on our two STPs. We continued to clear away layers of dirt and sift through them for any remains of artifacts. In our N0-W30 STP, we have encountered three context layers so far: JBH1 (the topsoil), JBH3, and JBH4. Like last week, the soil that we've encountered in this STP is much more earthy and less rocky than that in the other STP. However, the transition from JBH1 to JBH3 (from our first into our second context) gave a very nice example of how quickly the soil quality can change. JBH1 is predominantly a dark, loose topsoil, whereas JBH3 is a prime example of mottled soil--a mix of dark brown soil and an orange clay. JBH3 is also a much more densely compacted soil than JBH1. While the change in soil conditions was exciting, indeed, it did not signal a sharp increase in artifacts found. JBH3 revealed little more than a couple fragments of blue glass. As digging continued on this STP, yet another context was revealed: JBH4. The soil of JBH4 was softer and more uniform in color than JBH3, and it no longer had a clay quality. Yet while JBH4 may not have provided an abundance of orange soil, it did come through in providing some interesting artifacts: some pieces of terracotta and two small slivers of white glazed ceramic were found in this context.
Our other STP, located at N0-W35, continued to be a source of great excitement, and we have begun to uncover some very intriguing features. We are still working on our initial context for this test pit (a context called JBH2 which consists of dark, moist soil with an abundance of pebbles and rocks from 0.5-2.0cm), but we continue to find loose white tiles, and we also uncovered another section of tile that looks like it is still in place. It has been decided that the tile and mortar structure will constitute its own feature, called Feature 1. We also found what appears to be an installation of brick, along with more brick fragments and more mortar, as well as some coal. Hopefully, our work going on will allow us to investigate more thoroughly this STP and its unusual features.
We also started work today on our first excavation unit, conveniently called Unit 1. Unit 1 is a 1m x 1m square plot located on the northwest side of the property. The site is placed over a depression in the ground that is surrounded by a loose ring of stones that appear to have been placed intentionally. We didn't actually start any digging today; instead, we laid out a string perimeter for the site and measured the elevations of each of the corners from our datum point, which is the southeastern nail. We will be excavating this site in 10cm segments, a process that will be complicated by the fact that the site is over a natural depression. We'll start digging in Unit 1 next Monday.
Today was an exciting day for our class, not only because we got to experience the history of the John Brown House (which many of us felt was a hidden gem that had never even been mentioned to us in our time here at Brown) but also because it marked the first real day of our excavation, even if only in planning. We were also visited by two of the Joukowsky Institute graduate students and Chancellor Joukowsky himself, an auspicious visit on a beautiful late summer day.
Please click here for our fieldnotes page devoted to Unit 1 .
Fieldnotes provided by Jacob and Alex
Week 3 Survey & Excavation Summary
Work at the John Brown House continued on the 22nd with cooler weather. All our units were undisturbed upon our arrival, despite the packs of students we have seen wandering through the field during our work. We have received some interested glances from passerby, but no one has stopped to inquire about our activities. The main event this week was the assignment of two teams of four to excavation units 1 and 2, located on the northwestern side of the site. Four other team members kindly volunteered to complete work on the two STP’s prior to opening their own units.
Unit 1: Start of dig! Context JBH5: Trench 1 is located partially over the depression in the northeast corner of the yard. Because the ground is already sloped and the trench is half over the depression, digging to level the first context (JBH5) was a challenge. On the surface, the four corners of the trench varied in altitude by as much as 11cm. The southeast corner had the highest level, and therefore serves as the unit datum point for trench one. Because the change in elevation from the unit datum to the northeast corner was 11cm, and the midpoint of the trench was 10cm, about half of the trench was left with surface sod during the removal of the first context in order to level the trench. Excavation for the first context was therefore focused on the southwest side of the trench. Excavators stretched a string with a level from the datum point to determine how much soil/sod should be removed from each corner to create a level context. The excavators used a combination of shovel shaving and troweling, and sieved their backdirt through ¼” mesh. The soil was very dark brown, reading 10YR 2/2 on the Munsell chart. The topsoil was dark brown, damp, and easy to remove. One metal screw and two pieces of glass were found in context JBH5.
Context JBH8: A new context layer was uncovered during the preliminary sod removal in the southeast and southwest corners. The soil here was lighter brown and more damp and compact. This was a new natural soil context (as opposed to the 10cm contexts). This context was discovered 8.4cm from the datum point on the southwest side, and 5.5cm from the datum point on the southeast side.
Context JBH9: This context was assigned after digging 10cm of context JBH5. The soil here was consistent with the soil from JBH5. A buried plastic bag was discovered at the northwest corner in context JBH9. A single blade of “Easter grass” was discovered sticking out of the northeast corner. The excavators are beginning to come down on a feature in the northeast corner, possibly brick. A small pocket of JBH9 has been left intact in the northeast corner. The excavators will work around this as they dig JBH8.
Unit 2: To begin work on Unit 2, the sides of the unit were marked off with string, the uppermost context was labeled JBH 6, and a photo was taken. Levels from the highest point of the 1m x 1m unit were established. The northeastern side was 6cm below the southeastern side, and the western sides were slightly lower as well. Exposed features of brick and cement were also noted in the northeastern side. With these facts in mind, removal of the sod plug proceeded with shovels around all edges save the northeastern, where troweling proved more effective in uncovering the remains and removing grass. With the sod removed, shoveling into the topsoil and sieving of the fill began. It was soon noted that a sandy deposit of soil was present in the southeastern corner of the unit, and this deposit was left untouched, to be excavated as a new context. Slowly, soil was evenly removed from the surface of the unit. A mottled context, containing clayey, sandy, and dark brown (possibly carbon-rich) deposits was noted. These variations in soil quality were not judged to be extensive enough to be set aside as new contexts.
Numerous artifacts, possibly of both modern and historic origin, were uncovered through excavation and sieving. Common finds were glass (our team hypothesized Budweiser), white paint chips, screws and nails, brick, and ceramic pieces. Krysta guessed that one ceramic rim may be of 19th century origin. Biologic finds included very large worms in both units. These were eagerly exchanged within and between teams. Approximately 5cm down from level, the team uncovered an unusual feature. There appeared to be a metal pipe, approximately 12cm in diameter, sunk vertically into the soil. What appeared to be a spigot handle was mounted inside the pipe. The exact arrangement of the feature will become apparent as excavation continues. It is possible we have happened upon an old watering system. We will continue to groundtruth, but we would also like to take a closer look at the geophysical data for this particular square meter, to see if any indications of the feature were present upon close analysis of the data. Excavation in the northeastern corner uncovered more of the exposed brick and cement features.
The team spent a great deal of time taking additional levels during excavation to ensure a uniform depth of 10cm from the baseline level for the first context. Actual depths were close to this goal, with depths from baseline of 10cm (SW), 9.5cm (middle and NW), 10.25cm (NE), and 7cm (SE, left to excavate as new context). Care was taken to excavate around features, clean them for photographing, and establish clean side walls. The team took turns leveling, documenting, excavating, and manning the sieving station. Large quantities of pebbles and roots in the fill made sieving cumbersome. By the conclusion of the day, context JBH6 had been fully excavated, cleaned up, and photographed.
STPs: STP N0 W35 gave up a “small piece of blue and white ceramic,” tiles, shells, and some brick this week. The pit was excavated down to approximately 60cm. On the whole, STP N0 W35 has offered some intriguing features, suggesting numerous possibilities for the purpose of the tile, brick, and mortar—perhaps as a walkway, a former structure, or a dump site for unused or discarded construction materials. STP N0 W30 revealed large cobbles in context JBH4, and a new, clayey context (JBH7). Shells are present thoughtout contexts JBH 4 and JBH 7.
We look forward to continuing next week with trenches 1 and 2, and possibly beginning another trench to investigate the feature along the Benefit St. side of the lawn. The weather is beginning to turn, a reminder to us all that warm clothing is key to productive digging. We are excited to further examine the metal feature in trench 2, and the brick feature in trench 1. It will be sad to leave our shovel test pits behind, but N0 W30 was nearly sterile, and N0 W35 was becoming increasingly difficult to navigate as more and more bricks were exposed. So, onwards! The next two weeks promise to be exciting as we investigate the depression in the northeast corner.
Fieldnotes provided by Megan and Evie
Week 4 Survey & Excavation Summary
We completed our fourth week of excavation this Monday, September 29th. The afternoon was warm and very humid, as a result of a passing tropical storm. The rains that came with the storm had left a large amount of water pooled in the tarps covering units 1 and 2. We bailed out the puddles with buckets and dust pans, trying to ignore the hordes of drowned worms, and once the water was dumped out there was no major obvious damage to the excavations themselves. The other main side effect of the wet weather were mosquitos, and so bug spray was passed around before excavations began. Before class the shovel test pits completed last week were backfilled. With those STPs completed, Krysta and Brad had decided to open up two new units, and pulled Steffi and Moira from units 1 and 2 to head up the excavations on the new units, 3 and 4.
-Unit 2:
This unit had an impressive number of finds. After the context JBH 6, which is the unit's topsoil. Within this context the group uncovered a feature, a pipe with a spigot in the center. This feature was assigned its own context of JBH 14. In their context JBH 10 they noted a collection of sand soil in the southeast corner of the unit. The sandy area was excavated ten centimeters down from the highest point. While the rest of the unit had similar soil characteristics, the southeast corner fill did not disappear and resemble the rest of the unit until 13.5 centimeters below unit level. At this point it was agreed that JBH 10 would be excavated in tandem with JBH 11. JBH 11 is mottled and the new natural soil level for the unit. A foundation like feature was labeled context number JBH15. It was found in the soil of JBH 6 and is characterized by cement and bricks in a circular like shape.
Unit 3:
This unit is near Benefit street, close to the retaining wall that marks the present-day edge of the John Brown House property. When we arrived the four corners of the unit had been placed already. The borders between each of those corners were marked out with string, with the one in the highest corner being used as a datum. The unit was somewhat more level than the others that had been started so far, and so there was no problem in beginning to excavate. Photo 12 was taken of the top of the unit, and context JBH 12 was opened.
JBH12:
This first level, once the turf on top was removed, was made up of dark, moist loamy and mostly homogenous soil. The soil had few rocks, but was very dense to the point that it was difficult to sift. In color it was picked as 10YR 2/2 on the munsell chart. Excavation continued using shovel scraping and trowelling, with soil sifted through a 1/4 inch screen. There were many grubs and worms in the soil, which demonstrates something about the natural disturbances to archaeological remains that might occur in this environment. In terms of artifacts, several were collected including a rusted nail, a sherd of mulberry transfer print and a larger sherd of white pottery, both of which were glazed on both sides. Also found the shard of a tobacco pipe, thought to be from the 19th century.
Unit 4:
This newest unit is also near Benefit Street, and the wall at the property's edge. The pins at the corners of the unit were already placed, and the lines for the edges were strung. The unit is quite level, the lowest corner being just 5cm below the datum, the pin at the southeast corner of the unit. We had a brief false start because we had not pounded the datum pin in flush with the ground level.
JBH 13:
After taking picture 13 of the undisturbed grass, we outlined the edges of the unit with trowels and began to shovel scrape away the topmost layer of turf. Our initial plan was to excavate in arbitrary levels of 10cm each The topsoil was dark brown and loamy in texture, which measured in on the Munsell chart at 7.5YR 2.5/1. We screened the soil through a 1/4 inch mesh. This level was heavily disturbed by roots, which made excavation slow. Just a few centimeters below the ground surface we encountered what we took to be a second stratigraphic layer, which was of a darker color and extremely gravelly. We therefore stopped excavating and deeper, and decided to excavate by natural levels instead. The top of the dark gravelly stratum followed the contour of the modern surface, and was 2-4cm below it. We used trowelling to carefully clear off the top of this new stratum out to the edges from where we first uncovered it. The screening produced nothing old enough to technically qualify as an artifact, we uncovered a modern ballpoint pen, some small shards of plastic, and two pennies, dated 1971 and 1967. The 1971 penny thus gives us an earliest possible date that this stratum could have been deposited. Finally, we carefully cleaned up the edges of the unit and removed roots for a photo, so that we could begin excavating with a new context next week.
Week 5 Survey & Excavation Summary
This was the fifth week of excavation and our last before a practically two full week break due to Columbus Day weekend and missing class on Monday. The afternoon was cool and much more fall-like than the weather in weeks past, and the ground was still quite damp from the storms of the previous week. The tarps covering the units were easy to remove and the pits remained in tact from the week before. The mosquitos from Week 4 had been killed off by the cold snap and we set to work bug-free while the sun began to set over Providence. Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 were fully operational and we began work in groups on all of them.
Unit 2: This unit continues to turn up interesting foundation features. The majority of the excavation from today was in JBH 15, where a foundation-like feature was found, ac circular layer of cement and bricks that was also a part of the topsoil of this unit, JBH 6. The pipe and spigot in the center have their own context of JBH 14, and Megan continued to excavate the spigot, removing the dirt that was compacted inside the pipe. This feature was assigned its own context of JBH 14.
Unit 3: I am currently working on this unit. Today was quite a good day for pottery sherds, and we found several along the bottom southwest corner of the unit. More transfer print was found, as well as some examples of creamware and whiteware, it remains unclear which. We continued to delve into JBH 17 and were surprised to find the soil unchanged for 10 cm, remaining a medium light brown mottled with yellow. We found far fewer worms and grubs in this context than before in the topsoil, and heftier roots as is to be expected as we dig deeper into the yard. Mesh sifting was of paramount importance today, as without it we would have missed uncovering several small sherds of pottery and brick.
JBH 17: Unit 3 remained in JBH 17 which is a mottled yellow/brown clay consistency soil with quite a few thick roots. Thus far in this context we have uncovered sevral rusted nails, some brick shavings, a piece of glass, pottery sherds including a blue transfer print with a flower-shaped makers mark and a small piece of coal.
Unit 4: This unit continues to develop. Thus far the major find has been a feature assigned its own context of JBH 21. Above the structural feature is JBH 19 and below is JBH 20. The soil in JBH 21 is characterized by loose, dark gravelly fill. The feature was indicated by the geophysical survey but it remains unclear what exactly it will be.
JBH 19: This is a lighter gravelly layer with a Munsell value of 7.5YR 3/3. It has yielded no artifacts thus far and is constrained by the linear feature and lies along its Northeast side.
JBH 20: This soil has a Munsell of 10 YR 2/2 and is along the Southwest corner of the Unit below the linear feature of JBH 21.
JBH 21: This is the soil that makes up the linear feature traversing the unit and covers a large flat stone and other unknown components indicated by the geophysical survey.
Unit 1:
Unit 1 continues to yield a lot of modern detritus. Some soil progress has been made but JBH 8 and 9 are largely the same with a Munsell reading of 10YR 2/2, very dark brown soils. Photo 16 of the whole context and Photo 17 were taken, the latter focusing on a feature lying at the south wall, a deposit of blue-hued rock material that appears to be rapidly disintegrating as it is exposed.
Fieldnotes provided by Moira
Week 6 Survey & Excavation Summary
Week six was another exciting week in the field. It was a nice fall day with warm afternoon sun. Because we had not dug for the last two weeks we began the day by looking at the progress of every excavation unit. Then we began to DIIGGG!
Unit 1: When Unit 1’s tarp was removed we were surprised by the amount of roots that had grown in since the last time we had dug. The excavators in this unit had to start the day by removing the roots. The digging in Unit 1 this week was much the same as it had been in previous weeks. They declared a new arbitrary context when they reached 27 cm. This is new context is JBH 24 and is the same soil type as JHB 18. The finds from this unit include: Styrofoam, duck tape, brick, plastic, piece of modern JHB fence, bottle caps, strings, asphalt, charcoal, north American van lines label, and a foil wrapper. Their plan for next week is to dig down another 20 cm and at that depth, declare a new arbitrary context, unless there is a natural soil change within that 20 cm.
Unit 2: The tarp over Unit 2 had a beer bottle on top of it…maybe there was a party in this unit over the two weeks we were gone. Unit 2 continued digging in context JBH 22 and tried to reach a new context. At 30 cm down they will declare a new context, but for today, Unit 2 only got down to about 28 cm. They continued to uncover their features. In the southwest corner they uncovered a few bricks, which they hope to expose more next week. Their finds included: asphalt, two nails, concrete and the bricks in the southwest corner.
Unit 3: Today Unit 3 reached a new arbitrary context: JBH 25, which is the same as JBH 23. This soil is loose brown soil with some pockets of mortar. Their finds included: many pieces of “pink post-1830 sponge decorated white ware,” one piece of blue earthen ware, cream ware, a shell, green glazed red earthen ware, a piece of glass, rusted nail fragments, two large fragments of dense black glass. They will continue to dig JHB 23 until they reach 33 cm or run into a natural soil change.
Unit 4: In Unit 4 there are three different soil contexts: JBH 19, JBH 20 and JBH 21. Unit 4 began the day digging in JHB 19, which is to the west side of the unit. The soil in this context is mottled orange-brown and dark brown, fine textured soil. However as they dug down the soil became less and less mottled. The finds from JBH 19 include: some pieces of brick, two sherds of ceramic, some pieces of glass, charcoal and a large nail. They dug 10 cm and reached a new arbitrary context, which is JBH 26. Next week the digging will continue in this context.
We look forward to next week and all that it holds!
xoxo KS and SY
Community Archaeology Day & Week 7 Survey & Excavation Summary
On Saturday October 25th, we held a Community Archaeology Day in conjunction with Family Weekend at Brown. The John Brown House offered tours of the museum and historic Benefit week throughout the afternoon, and our excavations were part of these tours. As a result, we were visited by dozens of students' family members and people from the local community over the course of the afternoon. The visitors were really interested in what we were finding, and they asked a lot of questions about the Brown household, the property's history, and our excavation methods. Some even participated in the digging and screening!
Our excavations were not as intensive on Saturday because we spent a lot of time talking with the visitors. This summary combines the excavations of Saturday and from Monday's class (Oct 27th). Saturday and Monday were both gorgeous, sunny days with warm weather. It is starting to get dark now at the end of class, and this will definitely complicate things on the coming Monday after daylight savings time begins on Nov. 2nd. Headlamps for all!
Unit 1: On Saturday Jacob, Alex, and Alex's parents continued to dig through the seemingly never-ending JBH 24, the same soil as previous contexts, such as JBH 18 in this unit. Due to the thickness of the deposit, we continued to dig in arbitrary 20cm levels instead of 10cm levels, although we were very careful to dig in level increments as we went down in order to spot any natural soil changes or features. In this modern fill soil, we continued to find materials including duct tape, coffee cup pieces, and wrappers. Later on Saturday we finally began to find artifacts that resembled older materials, such as a bottle neck and cut nails. We also reached the bottom of the fill deposit JBH 24 at a depth of 47cmbd. An interesting find at the bottom of JBH 24 was a concentration of charcoal (burned wood) - perhaps this indicates that the modern trash deposit was actually burned at one point, a practice not uncommon even a few decades ago. At the end of Saturday we began to notice a new, and very different, natural soil deposit underneath JBH 24. As this soil became exposed in the southwest corner, we gave it a new context number, JBH 31. On Monday, we excavated the remainder of the JBH 24 soil, and exposed JBH 31 across the entire unit. JBH 31 is grayer in color and is a hard, compact soil. It is a stark contrast to the JBH 24 soil. Although it is too soon to tell, a similar compact soil is emerging in Unit 2, but it may be more mottled. So far, the beginning of our excavations into JBH 31 recovered a long metal stake and green crumbly material in the NW corner. We can't wait until Monday to dig through this new context!
Unit 2: Digging was slower than usual on Saturday in Unit 2 because many of the visitors stopped to discuss the exposed feature with us. Some of the visitors provided advice about the date and function of the spicket, which we found interesting and consistent with our interpretations of the structural elements in the NW half of the unit as early 20th-century. After finishing JBH22 at a depth of 29cmbd, we began a new arbitrary context - JBH 29. Within JBH 29 we began to expose even more bricks in the southern half of the unit, accompanied by a couple of large rocks as well. These were indicators of an potential architectural feature quite different than the feature in the northern half of the unit in terms of material type. The JBH 29 soil was very soft, and we noticed that the SW quadrant was beginning to get sandier, and this might have been due to small mortar deposits mixed within. Our finds from JBH 29 included more green material, charcoal, small brick fragments, and white paint chips west of the water main. We also reached the bottom of JBH 29 rather quickly, at 33cm in the center of the unit, 38cm in the NW corner, and 30cm elsewhere. The next context JBH 33 was a new natural soil composed of a sandy, mortar, and clay mottled soil deposit across the entire unit - possibly similar to JBH 31 in Unit 1. As the depth measurements indicate, the surface of this new natural soil deposit is uneven. As we excavated, we noticed the continuation of the brick and stones in the south wall and exposed more of them. We also noticed, as we dug deeper, that bricks were still in place, on top of one another. We called the brick and stone concentration Feature 5. Our finds included more charcoal and a small piece of lead, possibly part of a window pane.
Unit 3: The fill soil of JBH 27 continued deeper, and into new arbitrary contexts JBH 28 on Saturday, and JBH 34 on Monday (which began at 43cmbd - we are getting deep here!). The soil continues to be fairly uniform brown, though is getting more pebbly with greater depth. In JBH 28, we found significantly less pottery, and those that we did find were smaller pieces with no designs. We did find a good amount of coal, glass, brick, nails, and - part of a modern key! The glass, brick, and nails are artifacts typically associated with architectural remains, so this is somewhat encouraging. But they are in a fill soil, so we might not know for sure until we get more information out of the adjacent Unit 5. One really cool find from Saturday was a small piece of Imari porcelain with a gold design from the SW corner. On Monday we continued to excavate in this soil, reaching a new arbitrary context of JBH 34.
Unit 4: On Saturday we began a new arbitrary context JBH 20 in the soil to the east of the wall feature. JBH 20 is the same gravelly soil as JBH 16, the context above. Also, the soil in unit 5 JBH 27 appears to be very similar. The soil of JBH 20 is very rocky, and included architectural finds of large bricks, nails, and mortar. On Monday, we exposed the rubble and larger architectural stones and brick underneath JBH 20 (this needs a feature & context #). We also encountered two pockets of sand in the NE corner, one was brown 10YR 5/4 and one was white, like beach sand 10YR 7/3. We began to draw a plan view of the wall feature, but ran out of time, so will finish it on Monday.
Unit 5: As Unit 4 began to uncover a possible structural wall this week, but Unit 3 did not, we admitted that our placement of Unit 3 didn't exactly correspond to the area on the geophysics map that indicated a potential wall feature. With the assistance of grad students Oscar Aldred and Alex Knodell, we laid out and began excavations of Unit 5, which is located a mere 50cm to the east of Unit 3, but along the line of Unit 4's architectural feature. The first context excavated in Unit 5 was JBH 27, which was turf, topsoil, and humic deposits. It was loosely compacted, and included a sandy silt / gravel matrix with moderate-frequent small stone inclusions. This gravelly soil contrasted hugely with the topsoil in nearby Unit 3, but was nearly identical to the topsoil in Unit 4, which overlaid the architectural feature. This contrast was a promising sign that our adjustments may have located the point of interest from the geophysical survey. Between 8-10cmbd, we identified a discrete area of difference in the center of the unit, marked by a much more noticeable concentration of gravel and a large redbrick. We treated this as a potentially different natural soil or feature, so instead excavated around it in the continuing soil of JBH 27. On Monday we continued to excavate in the JBH 27 perimeter, and reached a new arbitrary level, which we called JBH 30. We had a difficult time distinguishing JBH 30 from the soil in the center of the unit, which we thought might have been a different feature or soil, because the deeper we dug into JBH 30, the more we found similar soil and lots of architectural debris, which has obviously been disturbed by demolition. The material included long iron frames, large bricks, a slate roofing, and a stone. Some of these may be in situ features. We finally did give the center N-S deposit a new context number, JBH 32, and began excavating it on Monday. In it we found two partial bricks, one with a maker's mark, a portion of a ceramic drain pipe with lead glazed interior, a few nails, a few sherds of whiteware, and a piece of glazed red earthenware.
by krysta
Week 8 Survey & Excavation Summary
Work started early today due to daylight saving bringing sunset an hour earlier and because we have two excavation days left, including today. As the students trickled in, some at 1:30, others at 3pm, we discussed the need to excavate efficiently and with an eye towards the looming end of the season. We have a lot to do in a little time. In Krysta’s absence, Kaitlin Deslatte helped supervise excavation. Unit 1: Alex arrived first and took part in a discussion of the stratigraphic layers evident in the profile walls. While daylight saving cuts short how long we can stay in the field, the light made for the easy detection of soil changes. Kaitlin noted that changes in the stratigraphy followed the changing elevation of the unit, which is positioned partly on a rise and partly on a depression in the lawn. The area with modern refuse is in the northern portion of the unit, and apparent natural soil dives abruptly in the southern portion of the unit where the lawn rises. This will be important to consider when writing up the final unit summaries. There after the team members in Unit 1 continued to excavate context JBH 31, which they began the previous week. This context appears to be the first in this unit that is below the modern fill layer. There are fewer roots, the soil texture is significantly more firm, and the finds are finally beginning to predate the last fifty years. Finds include pearlware and transfer print pottery, glass, brick fragments, nails and several large chunks of coal. A small sample of green soil was taken from the NW corner of the unit before excavation began to test for copper. The team is nearing completion of the current context, and will begin again on the 10th of November.
Unit 2: Having finished a context at the end of the day last week, Unit 2 started with a new context, JBH 38. This context appears to concentrate in the southern half of the trench, below much of the extant building material. Along the southern wall Megan and Kellie uncovered several nearly complete, and possibly still attached, bricks along with significant clumps of mortar and charcoal. The excavators describe the soil in JBH 38 as having a mortar-like texture and lighter color than previous soils levels. During the excavation process, several of the exposed bricks in the southwestern quadrant came loose and were subsequently removed. It seems that in several places the bricks are still layered on top of each other. Stone predominates in the southeastern part of the unit and some brick is surfacing in the middle portion as well.
Unit 3: Moira was out sick this week, leaving Ben to excavate primarily by himself, though Brad participated when he could. Before starting for the day, we took advantage of the lighting to look at the stratigraphy to attempt to identify what, if any, connections there are between Unit 3 and Unit 5, which are separated by a mere 50 cm. Whereas Unit 3 has not yielded any specific features, Unit 5 has several at a higher level with more construction based finds than clusters of ceramic within possible fill layers. The west-facing wall, closest to Unit 5, seems to indicate that the northeastern part of Unit 3 may actually have provided soil quite similar to context JBH 30 that was not identified during excavation. Tommy Urban, who visited the site early on, noted too that the feature detected by geophysical survey was not a straight line, but dogged back and forth at certain points. The jut to the east here may be consistent with the survey, and the lighter, yellowish soil of JBH 30 may represent the division between this feature and the natural stratigraphy beyond it. Ben excavated context JBH 40.
Unit 4: Work started by finishing a plan that was started last week. Context JBH 37, which appears to be wall fill, contained numerous brick, mortar, and cobble fragments covering the unit floor to the east of the large linear rock running through the center of the unit. Whitney and Peter arrived early to complete the plan, after which Steffi joined them to excavated context JBH 20, which covers the western third of the unit. The decision was made to excavate here in order to determine how deep the linear rock is and whether context JBH 37 runs below it and into the western portion of the unit. Their target at this point is a 20 cm layer. Finds from this unit include glass, pottery, iron and coal.
Unit 5: Unit 5 moved extremely quickly this week, clearing away the feature in the center of the unit (constituting contexts JBH 32 and 35) and excavating the entire unit down to roughly 30 cm below the datum. This context and the surrounding JBH 30 are full of gravel and have yielded many structural artifacts including asphalt, brick, mortar, large stones and iron beams. While there is a clear difference in the central context and the surrounding area, the texture and context of the differently colored soil is fairly consistent throughout the unit. Near the end of the day, the excavators (Kaitlin, Elise and Evie) came down on a series of moderately sized rocks in the center of JBH 35. These rocks surround a hole that appears to be less than 10 cm deep. At this point, the team is part way through a plan of the unit.
By Brad
Week 9 Survey & Excavation Summary
Today was our last day in the field. Our aims were to finish the contexts we were working on, clean them up and take final photographs before profiling and backfilling. Some of the class came early again to take advantage of the remaining daylight. Our aim was to totally stop excavating by three to allow time for clean up. However, Brad and Krysta had to pry trowels from many a hand, and we didn’t actually finish digging until somewhere around 3:30.
Unit 1 finished up with JBH 31. The majority of the time digging was spent leveling and cleaning. Fragments of brick and coal continued to appear, along with a large, uniformly constructed piece of glass. Final photographs were taken, and the unit profile was drawn of the western wall before backfilling began. The profile data collected form the western wall didn’t quite match up with the previously noted contexts, however, this was noted on the profile sheet and should not cause too much confusion during analysis.
Unit 2 finished on JBH 38. The profiling of unit 2 was more labor intensive than the other units because the abundance of extant features within the unit meant that two walls had to be profiled in order to give an accurate picture of the stratigraphy. However, even with two walls recorded, the abundance of features meant that four contexts were obscured in the profile drawing of the south wall. Unit 2 enjoyed backfilling under the light of the moon.
Unit 3 finished digging on JBH 40. The north wall was profiled.
Unit 4 left feature 4 intact and continued to remove JBH 37. Digging was difficult due to the multi-leveled nature of the unit. JBH 42 was excavated further, producing some interesting pottery finds, including a large piece of a blue and white porcelain plate. Unit 4 was the last to finish digging, and so profiling was a challenge in the failing light. Backfilling unit 4 became a community effort, as all of the other units had finished backfilling already. Everyone pitched in to help them out towards the end, with frighteningly efficient results.
Unit 5 attempted to get to the bottom of that rubbly mess that constituted a positive mash of contexts. JBH 41 was revealed to contain what appears to be a foundation. This foundation was labeled feature 7. Of course, the most exciting find of this unit turned up in the last fifteen minutes of the very last day of digging. Go figure. (We suspect Elise is cursed). Unfortunately, feature 7 was not investigated as fully as the excavators would have preferred. So, the unit was cleaned up and a final photo from above was taken in addition to photos of all four walls. The north wall was profiled before backfilling began. Shovel popping was perfected.
Although the excavations were conducted on a very limited time frame, we were able to collect data about several points of interest, covering time periods from the mid 18th century to the present day (if you count beer bottles found on top of our tarps). We corroborated findings from the geophysical surveys that suggested there may be foundation-like features running through units 4 and 5. In addition, the large amount of iron found in unit 2 further supported the geophysical findings. The process of profiling and backfilling rounded out the experience of excavation from start to finish, and we will continue this process in the lab with our research and analysis. We left the site so that it may be used by the John Brown House throughout the year, but with the data and buried tarps to allow the excavations to continue next fall.
by TEAM E
(evie & elise)
Syllabus / 2008 Class Members and Field Blogs / Readings / Critical Responses / 2008 Excavation & Unit Summaries / Sample Field Forms / 2008 Images / References & Resources
