Laura Leddy's Field Blog

Week 1: September 13, 2010

The first part of our first meeting was spent in a classroom in Salomon, where Professor Krysta Ryzewski and TA Jessica Nowlin introduced themselves and presented a general overview of this course's goals in excavating at the John Brown House, its schedule, and syllabus. The JBH property is currently owned by the Rhode Island Historical Society, and our work this fall will hopefully provide them with new information pertaining to the history of the property's myriad uses over the last few centuries. Krysta gave a brief history of the JBH property (supplemented by several maps and aerial views of the property, assembled from past excavations and book research) and talked about the work that students in this course had done in past years. A quick run-down of some archaeological techniques (such as geophysical magnetometry) were also explained.

Next, the class walked to the carriage house at 137 Waterman Street to pick up our tools, and then brought everything to the lawn at the JBH. We visited the various locations where units had been opened in prior seasons, and walked around the lawn to orient ourselves to the cardinal directions as well as where several buildings had formerly stood (namely the Hale-Ives House, in the NW corner of the lot) while taking into account the topography of the lawn. We discussed what we as a class were interested in looking into this semester, and how this would inform where we choose to dig. One such landmark that some of us were interested in is a fountain that is attested in an aerial photo from the 1940s. The RI Historical Society is curious to know more about where early drainage lines would have been, and a number of us were interested in looking in to this as well. It was planned that we will probably open 4 units, one of those being Unit 7, from a past excavation. We broke up into groups, and the Unit 7 group went with Jessica to unbackfill the plot. The rest of us worked with Krysta to learn how to lay out a square using a tape measure and a compass, and to mark it with stakes. We set up one 2x2 meter unit near where we think the fountain may have stood according to the magnetometry reading (in the SW region of the lawn), and another of the same dimensions close to the fence on Charlesfield St where we think the front door to the Hale-Ives House may have been, and where the magnetometry map indicated denseness (likely foundations of the HIH). I imagine this week we will further investigate the mysterious drainage hole on the eastern side of the lawn and set up another unit.

I was really excited when we got to the JBH house lawn and started learning about where some of the outbuildings may have been and imagining what it would've looked like with the HIH still standing. Visualizing that totally different scenery was so interesting! Laying out the square for the unit was surprisingly difficult to get just right. We didn't have time to start digging the new units, though the Unit 7 team made good headway with unbackfilling.

Week 2: September 20, 2010

Today we met at the Carriage House, gathered our materials, and brought them over to the JBH lawn. Krysta gave us a brief outline of what each group should accomplish, and we renumbered the units. Unit 7 is now Unit 11. The unit where the HIH stood is now Unit 10, and the unit where the fountain may have been is now Unit 12. The Unit 11 group broke off to continue unbackfilling, and the rest of us divided into two groups. I am on the HIH Unit 10 group, along with Alison Iarocci, Ben Jones, and Evie Schwartz. We laid out a tarp (for the soil we would soon be removing from our unit), and then Krysta came over and helped us string a line of tape around the stakes to mark our square. We then took elevation measures for the four corners of our square. I was assigned to fill out the notes sheet for today's work, and so I recorded these measurements as well as an account of the rest of what we did and saw today.

Then we photo-docmented our square before we started digging. The video camera was out of battery power, so we were only able to take still photos. We set up a chalkboard along the N edge of our square that contained the name of our site and other pertinent information, and a measuring rod in front of the chalkboard to indicate the scale of our square in the photo. Then we started digging! AI and BJ shaved off the top 2 cm (approx.), which largely consisted of moss and grass. As they dug, they put the soil into plastic buckets. Meanwhile, I took notes and helped ES to sift through the soil. This process continued until we had shaved off approximately 4 centimeters. We then sifted through everything else, and recovered 21 rocks, 2 small pieces of glass (one green, one brown, likely from beer bottles, both approx. .5cm squared), a small piece of plastic (approx. .5cm squared), and a wooden core (approx. 1cm long, .4cm diameter). These were stored in a Ziploc sandwich bag and then in a larger artifacts bag. All of the soil we had removed from the plot was left on our tarp. At 5:15 we packed up and took everything back to the Carriage House.

During section, we discussed our readings (principally the Mary Beaudry reading) and how archaeologists could more effectively present their ideas and research data. Should they include their opinions with their data, or keep them separate? Should data be stored more narratively (ie accessible to the public), or in a more scientific layout?

Week 3: September 27, 2010

This week we took a break from digging to become better acquainted with our resources at the Rhode Island Historical Society. We met at the RIHS Library, at the corner of Power and Hope Streets, at 3. There, we submitted the paperwork necessary to obtain library membership for the semester (so we may research for our final projects), and met with one of the reference librarians. She explained to us the general layout of the library, as well as how to use their online catalogue. She went over how to look up materials in the card catalogues and how to request items. She and another librarian had kindly assembled a number of primary and secondary sources pertaining to the JBH, and we looked them over. I really enjoyed looking at the fire insurance maps because they were so detailed.

Next, we walked to the JBH and broke up into two groups to be given a tour of the House. My group’s guide was Dan, who gave us a very interesting tour on the history of the house, its ownership history, and insight into various important pieces in the collection. I was really fascinated by the layout of the house (it was much brighter than I had expected, I think because of the floorplan around a central hallway), as well the incredible plumbing and artistry of John Brown’s bathroom! I also really enjoyed learning about his family and the relationship he had with his brothers. I don’t agree with certain of his business decisions, but I do think anyone can admire the sheer number of ventures he undertook—from China to chocolate to slaves to state government—and found success in. I do, however, approve of the extensive use of wallpaper throughout. I love wallpaper.

Section time was cut short because the tours had taken a considerable amount of time, and so we briefly went over the Harris matrix.

Week 4: October 4, 2010

This was a very dynamic week for us at Unit 10! We collected our equipment from the carriage house (careful not to disturb the skunk who has made our shed his home) and got to work right away.

Because the weather had been rainy for the past few days, the soil was hard packed and damp. Fortunately it didn’t rain on us while we were digging, but we still managed to get covered in mud. An increased number of rocks (gravel-sized and larger) and more difficult roots made digging a bit of a challenge, and sifting was more difficult because the soil was clumpy. We continued shaving off the top layer of dirt, and it soon became clear that we were close to reaching a new context because there was what Krysta described to us as mottling; the dark, sandy soil was mixed with the soil underneath, giving it a sort of marbled,blotchy appearance. It appears that the next context is a more orange/red colored soil.

We took turns digging and sifting, while Evie did a lovely job attacking the edges of our unit to define nice vertical walls. We all joked that now it looks like “real archaeology!” instead of some misshapen hole dug by a bunch of crazy college kids. At the end of the day we had shaved off another 2 inches or so, and made some exciting finds! We found a number of small pieces of glass (varying shades of green and brown), a small bead (I think it might be lead, and resembles a BB pellet. It has a seam so we think it was manufactured.), some sherds that appear to be terra cotta, and a number of pieces of pottery. Krysta helped us distinguish between porcelain and ceramic by tapping them together to see the type of sound they made. We also found a piece of rock (about 10cm x 5cm) that had a very clean cut edge, which Krysta said might be chinking stone and could have been used to fill in a small gap in a wall. All in all, we felt very good about our progress today!

At section we discussed the King reading and looked at maps of the JBH property. We talked about the different types of maps and what we can learn from them.

Week 5: October 18, 2010

This was a very exciting day for us! We began class by doing a videodocumented inventory of the progress made at each site. Then, we broke up into our units. Because it had rained since the previous dig day, some topsoil, leaves, etc., had settled on the top of our unit, so we set to clearing that away to reach the new context we had discovered the previous week. We put some music on and got digging, and within about 40 minutes we had once again fully exposed the mottled, orange and brown "calico" soil of our new context. We filled in the necessary paperwork, took photos, and videodocumented.

ES and AI used shovels while BJ and I used the sifter. The first find of the day was a rusted, bent-out-of-shape nail, which Krysta told us was pre-1900. We also recovered the stem of a ceramic pipe from the Netherlands, which got us all excited! It is missing the bowl, but still has its foot and the maker's mark, which Krysta explained made it a more significant find. Around the time that we picked up the pipe, we began to find clusters of brick fragments, areas of tightly packed stones (with nail fragments interspersed), and small chunks of mortar, all at about the same elevation. At this point we all switched to trowels and brushes, so as to be careful to leave everything in its place. We left things in a somewhat precarious state, so proceeding this week will be slow.

In section, we discussed final project options with Krysta, and then talked about the readings. They had dealt with the role of interpretation in archaeology and how it should be considered during the excavation process.

Week 6: October 25, 2010

After going over the guidelines for our final projects, Krysta explained that, because it's getting darker earlier, we won't be able to work in the field in a few weeks, so this week we were allowed to spend our section hour working at the JBH.

We managed to make good progress, even though AI was unfortunately absent and we all missed her energy and expertise! Last week, we had been finding a lot of brick and iron/nails remains in a relatively defined corridor in the eastern half of the unit, so this week were unsure of how aggressively we should continue digging. We decided to try to work faster to see if we could reach any architectural remains, and Krysta helped us dig. ES and BJ also dug, while I worked the sifter. We found yet more brick and nails of various sizes (approx. 3-7cm), as well as some pottery (yellow ware, painted ceramic) and the remains of a square-bottomed glass bottle. We also found a large iron piece that may have been part of a gate, a bootscraper, or something to hang a sign from. At the end of the day, we had worked through the calico context and reached a new one, which is dark brown and dense. We're approximately 15cm down, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we get through next week in the new context.

Week 7: November 1, 2010

This was a week of much progress for Unit 10! We had AI back as well as her father, Joseph Iarocci '81, who had studied archaeology as an undergrad. I worked the sifter again, while AI, JI, ES, and BJ were digging. We continued to find chunks of iron, nails, brick, morter, and small sherds of pottery and ceramic. The most exciting finds were a piece of beautiful, bright blue-black-and-white ceramic, and, underneath that, an intact bottle from a perfumer in NY with the cap still in place (though the bottle is empty). The bottle is about 3 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, and is made of relatively thick clear glass. We also found a number of shards of clear, flat glass, possibly from window, smelting, and a decent quantity of coal/charcoal. In addition to that, in the NE quarter of our site, we isolated a sizeable cluster of tightly-packed rocks. We think this may be some type of architectural feature. Krysta told us to start a new context for the "wall" and its interior (Context 73), and to number the new context we reached in the rest of the unit separately. We worked until dark at around 5:30 and then headed cleaned up our site. We've come across a lot of roots, so we spent some time cutting them in preparation for digging next week. We then packed up our materials and cleaned up.

EXTRA: Allison and I came in on Saturday morning and worked from 10-1 on the context outside of the wall. We continued to find nails, coal, smelting, and chunks of iron (though less chunks than we'd seen previously). We also found some interesting ceramic that was made to resemeble a basket weave and glazed green and some small shards of olive green, patterned glass (thick).

Week 8: November 8, 2010

This was our last week of digging, which was sad. Allison and I had put a tarp over the unit before we left on Saturday, which turned out to be a good idea because it rained quite a lot on Sunday and our unit was still clean and preserved when we got to it on Monday. We decided to attack context 73 and level it to the same elevation as context 68. As we removed the large bricks, stones, and iron chunks, it became clear that this was not an architectural feature. We did find some very interesting iron pieces though, as well as a brick/terra cotta with green enamel still painted on. We also found more ceramic, more nails, and brick pieces. After we had worked through context 73, we could see that the soil there was the same color (dark brown, with some orange and darker brown) as context 68, so we called whole unit context 68. Ben cut away more roots, and we took elevations again. By then the sun had pretty much set and it was drizzling, so we packed everything up and put the tools back into the carriage house. We then put our artifact bags into the orange buckets and carried them over to the lab at Waterman and Hope Sts.

In the lab, Krysta and Jessica showed us how to properly clean and store the artifacts (based on their material and unit number, respectively). We cleaned everything from context 73. We also signed up for artifacts for our reports. It was so interesting to get to see other groups' finds--Unit 11 had beautiful pottery. I'm really looking forward to getting everything categorized.

Week 9: November 15, 2010

We spent today closing up our units. Before we could backfill, however, we had to make sure everything was recorded. First we confirmed that all of our paperwork was complete and organized -- this included checking Munsell samples, depth measurements, etc. BJ and ES marked the different contexts on the N wall and made scale drawings of our 3 contexts. Meanwhile, AI and myself took photos of each wall of the unit. Unfortunately the camera ran out of batteries midway, so Krysta took the rest of the photos with her phone's camera. Once we had everything documented, we began filling in the unit. We laid a tarp down and put the bricks/stones from Context 73 (being artifacts, but not ones we needed to take to the lab) on top, and then began shoveling dirt in. Our classmates helped us shovel dirt into buckets, dump the dirt in the unit, and stomp on it to pack the dirt down. We cleaned up our supplies and folded up our tarps. Then we all helped the Unit 12 group fill in their unit. By then it was quite dark, so backfilling became a little bit more challenging (already a strenuous exercise!) but, with everyone working, it went pretty fast. We ended class early.

Altogether the digging/fieldwork part of this semester was a great experience. Our unit was a bit sad that we didn't have time to branch out from our unit (exploring nearer to the tree directly to the SW of our unit was something we really wanted to do!), but I'm really looking forward to analyzing what we found in the lab next week.

Week 10: November 22, 2010

Today was our last day at the site; we helped close up Unit 11 and then packed everything back in the shed for the last time. This didn't take long because we were all working on the same unit, so we were then able to spend most of class/section time in the lab. Jessica was really helpful in helping figure everything out--from how to clean certain artifacts to how to go about researching tricky object bio reports--and she brought us delicious brownies!

Our group got through cleaning and sorting the artifacts from both context 65 and 68. We all also got our object biography artifact choices settled--I'm reporting on 2 bits of window hardware (glass and a pulley) and a 1982 dime. Because most everyone's artifacts are clean now, we were able to go around and look at what each other had found. Our group came to the interesting realization that neither Unit 11 nor Unit 12 found nearly as many nails as us--I'm very interested in why this is and I'm going to attempt to interpret/sort it out in the Unit 10 site report.