Week 4 with Eric's Crew

This week, we switched our teams around to explore the site with varying experience and research goals.  Supervisor Eric Swanson had his team begin the week after a record-setting weekend of rain.  The environment surrounding the site and our shovel tests clearly showed it.  It wasn’t until Anna Consoliver-Zack and Matt Slycord began excavating a new shovel test that the true gravity of what the rain had done to the soils became clear.  After digging 39 cm into the shovel test, ground water began flooding the floor, and the shovel test was covered for later excavation.

The following day took the team towards the edge of the brick-lined well.  The brick-lined well shovel test allowed Matt and Anna to dry off in the sun, and was relatively easy, despite the test’s proximity to such a large cultural object.

Eric, Anna, and Matt returned the next day to test the densely wooded area along the western property boundary.  While keeping a keen eye out for cultural features along the surface, the local wildlife played an essential role in providing the team with company.

Discovering a small variety of historic ceramics, glass, and iron artifacts throughout the day, the team located a large brick conglomeration on their last shovel test.  The heavy concentration of brick, mortar, and sandstone in this shovel test indicates the possible location of a pier that would have supported a structure of some type.  While Matt and Anna meticulously cleaned, profiled, and mapped the shovel test, they provided essential data that will aid in the interpretation of this dynamic site.

 

              

Arcadia Mill and Historical Research

Archaeology is a great way of finding out what the actual remains of a site can tell us about the people who lived there, and is used alongside the historical record to bring new insights to what was previously written about the events and people associated with a site. At Arcadia, we use primary documentary research as one tool in our toolkit to help us understand what happened there and what people thought about it during the time that the actual events were taking place.

Many documents from 19^th century Escambia and Santa Rosa counties can help fill in gaps that exist in the archaeological record with regards to the lives of those living and working at Arcadia. The process of building the mills and structures that made up the Arcadia complex, and expanding the business from when Joseph Forsyth bought the property from Juan de la Rua in 1828 to the end of production at the Arcadia site in 1855, has left a lengthy documentary record in the form of deeds of sale, records of lumber shipments from shipping manifests, business ledgers, and newspaper articles chronicling the growth of the site and the controversy over using skilled slave labor in the mills and cotton factory. Information on the lives of the owners, employees, and stock holders at Arcadia can be gleaned from government records such as marriage and death records, census records, lawsuits and proclamations regarding land sales and the incorporation of the Arcadia Manufacturing Company. Some original documents from Forsyth and Simpson’s personal papers and records also provide interesting insight into their lives and business dealings.

As discussed in an earlier post, one area where the documents are often silent is on the lives and identities of the slave community that lived and worked at Arcadia for over 25 years. For this reason a particular focus of the UWF field school over the last few years and continuing in the 2012 season is to identify and study the archaeological remains of the dwellings and areas inhabited by the Arcadia slaves. Archaeology is able to illuminate what we know from the documents to create a fuller understanding of the people behind Arcadia Mill. 

1860 Census: E.E. Simpson and household, including two young daughters of the recently deceased Joseph Forsyth.

Stay tuned for exciting highlights on this summers ongoing excavations, current historical research, and opportunities for public involvement! 

The crew at Arcadia had another great week, albeit a wet one. Despite one rain day and an afternoon closed early, the team is 80% done with our Phase I exploratory shovel testing. Almost all of our 50 shovel tests have been shot in using a Total Station or an optical transit.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood:
Kyle's clearing for the next total station shot allowed us to have a moment of
literary appreciation

The UWF Arcadia crew finished up our fence post survey in only 2 days; the information gathered from these extra shovel tests has helped us delineate high and medium probability areas.

Rylan and Matt finishing the last
shovel test of the fence post survey along the
 southern and eastern property boundaries

Next up, we'll be opening up larger units in areas that have been very productive thus far. So far, we have loosely bounded four general occupation areas: a barn or warehouse area, a agricultural zone, high status white owner's occupation, and the area of unidentified ethnicity, presumably low-status residents.

Otis the Owl, one of our more feral site visitors, who likes to survey students'
digging in one of our two very high probability areas on site.

We've also been preparing for the second phase of the field season: geophysical research. Shown is a georefrenced map depicting one of a series of GPR results just south of the hypothesized slave cabin remains and west of the 4 meter deep well.

As always, any anomalies found through geophysical research need to be ground-truthed. To do this, a series of larger units will be opened; this allows a larger glimpse into the ground to identify patterns of refuse disposal. Hopefully, the Arcadia crew will begin this type of excavations next week.

PI John Phillips with his take-home message

Last week was the first of four of our volunteer days, this Friday the 15^th will be our second running from 10 to 3 so come on out to visit the site and work with the artifacts!

Why is Archaeology Necessary at Arcadia?

Historical documents such as census records, deed records, and newspaper reports reveal that slaves were the predominant source of labor at Arcadia.  Such records also show that the primary owners of Arcadia Mill, Joseph Forsyth and Ezekiel Simpson, increased the number of slaves they owned for over three decades.  This increase in slave property directly corresponds with the company’s expansion.  As the mill grew and the owners purchased more slaves, the associated community grew in size and social complexity.

Such records establish the presence of a large slave community at Arcadia.  However, historical documents providing specific descriptions of the community do not exist.  This lack of documentation prevents researchers from understanding many of the community’s hidden intricacies, which is where archaeology comes in.

The current archaeological investigation at Arcadia aims to answer a wide range of questions about the mill community, from ethnicity, status, and identity to spatial organization and architectural patterns.

Shovel Test Update: Kyle Feriend and Eric Swanson

A successful week of testing at Arcadia Mill’s Simpson Lot has brought many interesting details to the site. Working carefully through the sedimentary layers, the team composed of Kyle Feriend and supervisor Eric Swanson excavated in three separate areas of the lot. In a shovel test in the southwestern quarter of the lot, an indeterminate feature appeared in the bottom 20 cm of the sandy loam sediment. Some significantly sized pieces of burned wood indicated that a burning event took place in the area during the historical period of Arcadia’s occupation. In this same test, some porcelain, a copper tool, and various iron objects were found throughout the historic layer associated with this burned feature. The team moved to the southern property boundary soon after preserving the burned feature for future excavation.

The purpose of digging the following two shovel tests was to bring a greater understanding of the overall context of the site, and to protect cultural remains that would be affected by the building of a fence in the area. These tests, like many that take place across the state, find and protect cultural resources from destruction when building projects take place. In this shovel test, very little cultural material was recovered, so Kyle and Eric moved eastward to test another area.

Along the eastern property boundary, Kyle and Eric excavated another shovel test placed strategically along the proposed fence-line. The high concentration of trees and other flora in the area created a challenge, as well as gave important clues as to the context of the site. The presence of magnolia trees in the area gives a hint as to the quality of the soils, and whether the area would have been an ideal place to live. As the team excavated in 20 cm levels, it became apparent that this area had significantly more cultural material than the previous shovel test. These two factors give the research team reason to believe that this was an area of domestic occupation. Among the artifacts recovered were ceramic water pipe, an iron utensil handle, several nails, glass, and kitchen ceramics.

The Arcadia Mill field school is open to public visitation!

Visitors to the Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site are welcome to visit the ongoing field school at its new location just up the road from the Arcadia Mill Visitor Center.  We will be working on site and providing tours Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm (weather permitting). Please stop by the Visitors Center for directions to the site. 

Also, this Friday, June 8^th opportunities will be available for visitors to work with artifacts in Arcadia Mill’s Visitor Center and join the archaeologists outside.  Indoors, volunteers will be rough-sorting artifacts recovered from this year’s excavation.  Tours will be offered at the site and volunteers will be able to help the archaeologists screen for artifacts.

All ages are welcome, but an accompanying adult is required for children under 18.  Anyone who wishes to work outside must bring pants and close-toed shoes; a hat, sunscreen and bug spray are strongly recommended.  Water will be provided on-site, but a water bottle is suggested.  Visitors should bring their own lunch if they plan to stay through noon.

For more information contact Arcadia Mill by phone at (850) 626-3084 or email ArcadiaMill@uwf.edu.

Our crew continues to make great progress as the week comes to a close.  We've already finished over half of the first phase of this summer; 18 shovel tests have been completed on the Simpson Lot! Students have been working very hard to learn digging, mapping, and documentation techniques.

Aaryn Maloney documents the Munsell
designation of the soils in a shovel test.

Three structural features have been identified thus far, including both a round and rectangular post. The last two weeks have raised many questions concerning the arrangement of structures on the site. Our 18 shovel tests have already answered quite a few of them. The hypothesized farm and agricultural areas of the site are marked by large artifacts like iron spikes and hooks. Also noteworthy are the numerous botanical materials that have been recovered, mostly peach pits and soft shelled pecans.

L: a cuprious cog
R: an iron button with the makers mark: "WISDOM"

We have a tentative hypothesis concerning the area of lower status individuals: the east third of the Simpson lot contains diagnostic artifacts such as window glass, whiteware, and iron buttons. Together, this assemblage tells us that there was likely a low-status domicile nearby. The artifacts from this eastern area of the site are less expensive and probably easier to procure than those found around the remains of Ezekial Simpson's Big House.

Finally, the area around Ezekiel Simpson's house, one of Arcadia Mill's owners, is littered with more expensive materials like porcelain buttons, imported porcelain dinner plates (found only in small fragments, of course), and delicate metal artifacts. Unfortunately this area is covered with a thick layer of modern trash including beer bottles, sewer pipes,  and the like.

Zach and Eric enjoying their day in the field (note Eric's Elvis leg).