Archaeology Dig Diary August 15, 2005

Archaeology Dig Diary - Monday, Aug 15

The weather continues to slow our progress. The crew has been exceptional at handling the excessive heat and humidity. The summer interns left on Friday, reducing the crew size to 5 for the remainder of the field season. These hardy undergraduates shoveled topsoil and plowzone for 8 straight weeks. I assume all are looking forward to returning to the classroom.

The excavation area is now over 4200 square feet.

Structure Under the Ice House

The excavation team is now excavating the third layer of cellar fill. So far, none of the exotic Civil War related material found last year has turned up in this section of the cellar. Sometime in the past, a groundhog made its home inside the cellar. Finds in this filled burrow include a glass egg (see below).

Structure On the Hill

A portion of the east side of the structure appears to be buried underneath a large linear landscape feature. This may be the remains of a road that was oriented to slowly descend the terrace and may have provided a way for tractors and livestock to access the flood plain. The west side of this possible road is lined with irregularly shaped stones and bricks designed to reduce slump and erosion. The feature appears to date to the 19th or even 20th century. Civil War era photos show a road in this area, but the orientation of this wagon road does not match the landscape feature that we have encountered. In order to excavate the portion of the building located underneath this feature, we will have to remove a large section of the impediment.

Find of the Week

A hand-blown glass egg was recovered from a groundhog burrow in the cellar of the structure found under the ice house. Glass eggs were first manufactured in 1883 by the Canton Glass Company of Canton, Ohio. These eggs were placed in the nests of domestic fowls in hopes of encouraging them to lay. A side benefit was realized when farmers discovered that marauding snakes would consume the glass nest eggs and consequently die, removing a hazard of the chicken coop. In a pinch, glass nest eggs where used as a support for darning socks when darning eggs were not available. These utilitarian objects eventually became popular Easter decorations. Originally they were hand painted, sometimes with paper cutout embellishments. Later, in the early 20th century, as their popularity increased, nest eggs were produced commercially as Easter decorations.