Archaeology Dig Diary July 15, 2005

Archaeology Dig Diary - Friday, July 15

The field school is gone and already sorely missed. They were a great group and worked very hard uncovering a large area of site. The remaining workforce is made up of interns from a variety of schools.

The excavation area is huge and still growing. To date we have opened an area over 3600 square feet. We are still trying to identify the east and north boundaries of the structure on the hill and because of this, the excavation area will continue to expand.

Structure Under the Ice House

We have now uncovered all that remains of this structure's cellar. It measures about 25 by 10 feet and its latest layer was deposited after the plowing that took place on the site in the mid-nineteenth century. No other remains of this structure have been uncovered to date and it may be that early 20th-century activities destroyed the rest of these remnants. We will begin excavating this cellar this week. Stay tuned.

Structure On the Hill

We still have not fully uncovered this building. We are closing in on the eastern edge, but the north end still eludes us. At this point it is unclear how many structures are located in this area - anywhere from one to three. Two sections of stone foundation have turned up inside the north end of the structure(s). One section is unmortared, the other contains a mortar that predominately dates to the 18th century. The mortar suggests that the top courses of stone are now missing. The odd alignment and differences in character of these two sections of wall make it difficult to understand how they could come from the same structure. At least 3 cellars have been identified, and several other areas of dark soil could turn out to be cellars as well.