More Amazing Artifacts from Unit 125!

Today the crew working in unit 125 found several pieces of silverware, some copper piping, and what appears to be most of the pieces of a whole ceramic vessel!  Here are some pictures taken at the lab at the end of the day.

Friday Field Lab

Arcadia Mill will be hosting another field lab this Friday from 10 AM to 2 PM for anyone interested in archaeology or history.  As usual it is free and open to the public, though we do ask that anyone under 16 years of age be accompanied by an adult.

Today the field school students took refuge from the rain and did some lab work of their own. Pictured below is the entire crew in the act of sorting and bagging artifacts from the Simpson Lot.

We hope to see you at Arcadia Mill on Friday, and please revisit the website later this week for our weekly progress update!

Awesome Find From Unit 125!

Today during their excavation the crew of unit 125 found a pretty amazing artifact.  Let's see if you can find it in the larger photo before I spoil it.

 Did you find it?  If not, or if you just want to see a closer image it is pictured below.

That's right--it is a hand mirror, and it even still has the glass in the frame!  It was found deep in the brick rubble on the basement side of the wall that runs through unit 125.  Check back later in the week for more details and news about our progress!

Weekly Progress Update

This week we continued to excavate units 125 and 126.  We also put in a unit (127) that we thought was placed over the Southeastern basement wall.  However, it now appears that this is in fact a possible brick pier that may have held up the house.  This hypothesis is based on the fact that the bricks are not articulated all the way across the unit, but instead are concentrated in a relatively square formation with some associated rubble--almost as if the pier were pushed over some time after the house burned down.  This is further supported by local accounts of the land being bulldozed sometime after hurricane Ivan.  Below is a photo of the early excavation of unit 127.  You may notice that a portion of unit 127 remains unexcavated.  This is because of the slope leading down into the basement depression, and because we are excavating 10 centimeters at a time from the highest point of the unit (in this case the Southeast corner).

Meanwhile, unit 126 continued its excavation without encountering any architectural features, which we now suspect is because the unit is where the porch of the house would have been.  This would explain the high concentration of nails mentioned in last weeks progress update.  The crew working there have not found much since last week, but have continued excavating due to a few anomalous pieces of broken glass found deeper in their unit.  Pictured below is crew member Mandy Charest standing in the unit to excavate while her partner Amanda Mikulli (crew) screens dirt from the unit for artifacts.

Unit 125 (the unit placed over the Northwest basement wall section) has proven to be the most interesting thus far.  Not only has the wall continued as the crew excavated further, but it has also produced the most burnt brick rubble, and contains a possible collapsed brick pier in its eastern wall.  In this unit alone they removed over 500 pounds of brick rubble in a single day!  Below is a picture of the basement wall that bisects unit 125.

and here is a picture of the possible collapsed brick pier in the Eastern wall of the unit.  Notice how the bricks are articulated with mortar and are oriented in the opposite direction of the wall.

Next week we will continue to excavate all three units, and possibly put in a new unit if we finish the excavation of unit 126.  Check back soon for any exciting find updates, field lab announcements, and further progress reports!

Exciting Find at the Simpson Lot

Earlier this week we opened up a new unit at the Simpson Lot, called unit 127.  During the excavation today we found a fairly elaborate piece of ceramic, which most likely belonged to some sort of cylindrical pipe (like for plumbing, not a tobacco pipe).  The pipe piece is one of the more exciting artifacts to come out of unit 127, though it is by no means the only one.  Check back soon to hear about our progress this week.

Public Field Lab

In case you missed last week's Field Lab, or would like to attend again, Arcadia Mill will be hosting another public field lab this Friday (June 6) from 10 AM-2 PM.  The lab is free of charge, and is a great experience for anyone interested in archaeology or local history.  We do ask that all children under the age of sixteen be accompanied by an adult.  We hope that you join us Friday, and check back later in the week for an update on our progress at the Simpson Lot!

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!