NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY LAUNCHED
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Fall 2001

Archaeologists this spring began the last major portion of their survey of the 10 acres surrounding Jefferson’s house, working in an area adjacent to the two brick tenant houses east of the retreat.

With 18 pits open, the digging has already yielded a wealth of artifacts from nails to a rare charm that span a good portion of Poplar Forest’s history from Jefferson onward.

Barbara heath, director of archaeology and landscapes, hopes the excavation will lead to a fuller picture of what the core area was like in Jefferson’s time.

“We have evidence indicating that Jefferson’s circular road went through that area. We also have survey notes from Jefferson that indicate the presence of a radial road off to the southeast, connecting the heart of Poplar Forest to the present Waterlick Road south of the plantation,” she says.

“Also, we know from letters there were stables and a spinning house somewhere near Jefferson’s house. We hadn’t found evidence of them in previous excavations; perhaps they were located in the area we are now exploring.”

Though still too early to conclude anything, the artifacts recovered so far look promising.

They include a layer of cobblestone that appears to date from the Jefferson period, as well as a concentration of stone, brick, and mortar. This debris suggests that nearby, there may once have stood a building that was dismantled and its rubble covered over by the mid-1800s.

Archaeologists will excavate more units in the area to see if they can confirm whether the rubble is from a building, and if so, the use and size of the structure.

Other artifacts are pieces of ceramics (creamware, pearlware, porcelain, and whiteware) that date from the late 1700s to modern times; paste jewelry, probably from the Victorian era; buttons; a thimble; and the remains of a pocket watch and pocketknives.

One of the most intriguing finds was a rare charm, about the diameter of an eraser on a pencil’s tip, which shows a clenched fist within a circle. Although the brass charm was probably mass produced after Jefferson’s time, says Heath, only a few have been found (three at slave quarter sites at the Hermitage in Tennessee, two others from slave dwellings in Tennessee, and one at the Calvert House in Annapolis).

The charm’s meaning isn’t clear. Because most of the charms have been found at slave quarters, they may have been bought and used by enslaved Africans, heath says. She notes their small size suggests they were worn hidden from view. African Americans in the past have used the word hand generally to refer to small protective charms, and the Poplar Forest example may have served to protect its owner from illness or bad luck.