Week 5 Update

The Fourth of July is always a big event at Poplar Forest. The field school students get a chance to interact with a large number of people during the day. As visitors came by the archaeological site, students explained why they were excavating in the S.E. Core and discussed the artifacts and features they found in their units.
 
During the rest of the week, students continued to excavate two units where the postholes to a  Jefferson-era building are thought to be located. A terra cotta pipe from a pump house built during the late 19th century or early 20th century was found on the north side of Site A. This pipe had to be removed so the students could continue digging down to the Jeffersonian layer where a posthole might be located. After the pipe was removed, the students began excavating their way through the red clay fill, the layer directly above the Jeffersonian layer. At the south end of Site A students were still excavating in the plowzone where they were finding many artifacts, including two large fragments of an iron kettle and bone. Excavation was also completed on the north half of the large posthole, revealing that it was almost three feet deep. Whatever the function of the building that stood out here it certainly seems to have been sturdily built.
 
In the lab this week, students wrote a site report detailing their findings and interpretations generated during the field school.  After writing the site report, students continued to wash and label artifacts they found during their excavations. In the afternoon, students learned about MVC (minimal vessel count) and the importance of cross mending. The students were able to experiment with putting pieces of broken pottery back together.
The students made excellent progress this summer. Thanks to their efforts we now have a direction to follow as we try and chase the outline of the Jefferson-era structure that stood here. The two new units the students opened will be finished by Poplar Forest’s interns and staff archaeologists this summer. We’ll be sure to update the website and facebook if we find a third posthole.

Image 1: Another great July 4th event at Poplar Forest.

Image 2: Uncovering the terra cotta drain pipe that may have carried overflow water from a cistern and pumphouse built by the Hutter family.

Image 3: Fragment of an iron kettle.

Image 4: The base of the posthole. Only the north half of the soil filling the posthole has been removed in order to see the shape and feature. A later posthole is seen to the right cutting into the top of the fill. This later post may have been associated with a slave cabin that stood here in the mid-1800’s.

Image 5: Students work with Laboratory Supervisor Lori Lee to identify artifacts from the units they just excavated.