Progress Thus Far

Earlier this week we put in a few more shovel tests around the Simpson House depression in order to get a better understanding of the soil stratigraphy outside the basement area where we plan to do most of our excavating.  This is so that we can differentiate between the basement fill, and the various layers of soil around the basement structure.

More recently we have begun to clear and put in units within and around the depression.  The units are 1x2 meters, and are strategically placed to capture information about the exposed basement wall, the area outside the basement, and the area within the basement. 

Here you will see students clearing brush, and surface collecting rubble before they set up their units on Thursday May 29.

Shortly thereafter we took cover from the impending storm, but diligently continued working through the rain. The leftmost tent covers unit 125 which straddles a portion of the Northwest basement wall, while underneath the right tent is unit 126--an area outside of the basement, but close enough to potentially be a part of the Simpson House structure.

Today (May 30) we began the excavation of both units.  Here you will see Amanda Mikuli (crew) wrestling with some tricky brick rubble as she excavates the first 10 centimeters around the basement wall in unit 125.

Meanwhile, her partner, Steven Macks (crew) pictured below, sifts the soil from the unit through a 1/8 inch tripod screen to recover artifacts.  Artifacts recovered from this level of unit 125 included bricks, burnt bricks, melted glass, nails, modern trash (broken plastic and metal), and some small pieces of various historic ceramics.

Over at Unit 126, Jake Molpus, Alicia Boschen, and Kaylina “Wally” Nies (crew from left) prepare their unit by cleaning it with trowels before taking a photograph for our official records.  This unit is somewhat anomalous due to the reddish clay level encountered some 8-10 centimeters below the surface.  Unit 126 also contained bricks, melted glass, and historic ceramic like unit 125, but differed based on the incredibly high number of nails recovered from the Northwest quadrant.

Here is a photo of unit 126 after they finished hand cleaning it with trowels and dustpans.

That's all for now folks.  Check us out next week as we begin another unit in the basement (unit 127), and delve deeper into units 125 and 126!

Arcadia Mill Public Field Lab

Interested in local history? Care to learn more about artifacts and archaeology?  Then join us at the Arcadia Mill Public Field Lab tomorrow between 10 AM and 2 PM!  The lab is free of charge and fully open to the public.  However, we do ask that any children under 16 be accompanied by an adult.  We hope to see you there, and tune in tomorrow for an update on our fieldwork progress this week!

End of the Day Excitement

We had an exciting discovery towards the end of the day. Steven Macks (crew) noticed articulated brick and mortar beneath an area he had just cleared. This helped to reinforce the importance of clearing vegetation! This is likely to be part of the northwest basement wall and it represents the most substantial architectural feature yet to be identified within the footprint of the Simpson House.

First Week in the Field

14B crew at Simpson Lot

The Arcadia Mill field school had a great start this week with lots of orientation and training. Students were given a tour of the site in order to understand Arcadia's historical context and how the industrial complex relates to the Simpson House. The crew consists of John Phillips (Principal Investigator/Instructor); Adrianne Sams (Project Manager/Instructor); Robert Taylor (Field Director); Llew Kinison, Katherine Sims, and Janene Johnston (Supervisors), Alicia Boschen, Mandy Charest, Steven Macks, Amanda Mikulin, Jake Molpus, and Kaylina "Wally" Nies.

Robert Taylor and Katherine Sims using total station

In addition to site orientation, the students learned about documentation through field notes and paperwork, equipment use and maintenance, and using the total station and transit. Jen Melcher, UWF Terrestrial Lab Supervisor, came out late this week to help with total station training. Three shovel tests were shot in with the total station and one yielded our first feature of the season, Fea. 450.

Possible slave cabin

Feature 450 was identified in Shovel Test 453, which was positioned between the shovel test transects from 2012. The shovel test is located within the vicinity of Structure 1 that was identified in 2012. Feature 450 consists of two large brick fragments that are likely to be associated with the piers of Structure 1 or the potential slave cabin.

Large depression marking location of basement for Simpson House

The main focus of the 2014 field season is investigating the high status Simpson House, which is located in the northeast corner of 3.05 acre parcel. The location of the house is marked by a large depression that represents a partial brick paved basement. Probing has identified several potential brick piers that the crew will investigate through shovel testing. The image below and others illustrate that the house was approximately 2.1 meters above ground and each side had seven brick piers. Stay tuned for updates about field school and what we're finding at the historic Simpson House!

South side of historic Simpson House