Day 5

Over 15 volunteers stopped by throughout the day to lend a hand with the excavation. With the extra help, we were able to finish two units and begin two others. Trish Talbert & Karen Neilly complete screening of the preliminary excavation of the area we believe to be a site once used by a blacksmith.

Another site, which began to show promise after several days of excavation, is what appears in [photo#1]to be the base or "foundation" of what we believe to have been the cabin. In 1992 a similar site was exposed on the far side of the monument. Here Rob Mott and Sam Taggart remove soil from around the large support stones of the base.
The team also begun preliminary excavation of what we think was the cellar of the cabin. Although today we found few artifacts in this area, we hope that further examination will yield more artifacts.

[photo #2] Some interesting artifacts that were found today included a fragment of a bone utensil handle, a creamware sherd, and a redware sherd with a shiny lead glaze. The creamware piece helps us to establish the date of the fort to the Revolutionary War period, as creamware was not common until the 1770s.

[photo #3] Another gunflint was found today as well as a brass button and a fragment of a buckle. While the front of the button was in rather good shape, the shank on the back had completely eroded.

Saturday will find us in the field once again. With a good group of volunteers again expected, we hope to make further progress.

[photo# 4]

THE EXCAVATION 1997

September 22, 1997 | September 23, 1997 | September 24, 1997
September 25, 1997 | September 26, 1997 | September 27, 1997
September 29, 1997 | September 30, 1997 | October 1, 1997
October 2, 1997 | October 3, 1997 | October 4, 1997