Progress Update

We are now halfway through the field season and things are looking good! On Thursday, the field crew went on a field trip to Mission San Luis to learn about the archaeology conducted there.

In order to investigate a potential brick feature, two additional 1x1 meter units were placed adjacent to Unit 128. However, further investigation revealed no architectural features. A few interesting artifacts have been recovered from these units including a button and a lead shot.

Unit 128 (bottom right), Unit 129 (top right), and Unit 130 (left) at the top of level 2. 

Mandy and Amanda work on Unit 130 

 Excavations of Unit 125 are now complete. This unit continued to surprise the crew this week.While excavating the "inside wall" portion of the unit, crew members noticed large pieces of carbonized wood. Further investigation revealed the intact charred brick floor, with portions of the burnt wooden floor still above it. It was decided to terminate excavations of the "inside wall" once the floor was exposed and thoroughly documented. While cleaning the walls, crew members exposed portions of what appeared to be a large cast iron object. Unfortunately, the object cannot be removed at this time due to its location. It appears to belong to a kitchen appliance, possibly a stove. The object also has a series of numbers on it that we will be researching. Excavations of the "outside wall" portion of the unit revealed what appears to be a small brick foundation for the wall.

Basement floor (Unit 125)

Cast iron object (Unit 125)

Inside Wall of Basement

Outside Wall of Basement

Bonifay Brick (Unit 127)

Unit 127 had some interesting finds this the week. Along with the stoneware vessel discussed in the previous post, the crew recovered a brick fragment that had a makers mark. Excavations of level 6 revealed a charred wooden beam, possibly a type of support for the house. 

FEA 463: charred wooden beam

In order to completely expose the stoneware vessel, crew members placed a 1x1 meter unit (Unit 131) directly south of Unit 127.

Unit 131 Before Excavation

Stay tuned this week for more exciting finds, as well as pictures from our field trip! 

Awesome find from Unit 127 and Friday Field Lab

Continued excavations of Unit 127 revealed an intact stoneware vessel (pictured right). It appears to have been intentionally buried, as evidenced by the mixed fill surrounding it. The crew noticed fragments of turtle shell in the top portion of the vessel, along with what appears to be a key (pictured below). Though the key was removed, the remainder of the vessel and its contents will be extracted as one item. Once it's in the lab, we plan on using x-rays to determine the contents before any further steps are taken. Unfortunately, portions of the vessel are outside the boundaries of the unit, so the crew will need to open up a new unit in order to retrieve the vessel. Keep checking back here for more updates about this interesting feature!

Don't forget to come check out our Public Archaeology lab tomorrow, June 20th from 10 AM - 2 PM. The lab is free and open to the public, though we do ask that anyone under 16 be accompanied by an adult.

Weekly Progress Update

We have just completed our fourth week at the Simpson Lot, and things are definitely starting to get interesting!  As you may know from earlier posts this week, Unit 125 has had the most interesting artifacts coming out of it--namely silverware, ceramic vessel pieces, and large pieces of scorched marble.  What makes this even more impressive is the fact that the crew has been digging constantly through brick rubble on the inside of the basement wall.  Pictured below is unit 125 in progress.

And here is a profile view of the basement wall from the outside.

Also This week, unit 126 was completed, and a new unit (128) was put in on the northern edge of the basement depression. Below is a picture of the finished unit 126.

And here is a picture of the 1 meter by 1 meter unit (128) before excavation.

And again with the first 10 centimeters excavated.  You can see that they have a large amount of brick just below the surface in the Northern half of their unit.  Because of the high number of bricks, two more units have been put in around unit 128 in order to better define the possible feature that this unit might contain.

Meanwhile, Unit 127 has been revealing more brick rubble in the Western half as the crew dug deeper.

Below you will see more brick rubble, a large glass jar, and some burnt wood that may be a large tree root that burned, or a possible scorched plank.  We will certainly know more about it as soon as we get into the next 10 centimeter level.

That's all for now, check back next week as we continue excavating at the Simpson House!

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!