FARMLAND SURVEYED
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Spring 2001

An archaeological field survey one mile north of the house is underway to determine the most appropriate use of what Jefferson called the Ridge Field.

The survey is part of the master site planning process. In that process, the Board of Directors is carefully considering what parts of Poplar Forest property should be set aside for restoration and interpretation, and what parts might be available for developing facilities to support the long-term educational use of the retreat.

The northern portion of the Ridge Field was identified in the draft master plan as a possible building location. The tentative designation was based on the board’s review of evidence collected at the site in a broad-brush survey five years ago, when archaeologists looked for evidence of past activities in pits 50-feet apart.

The current, more intensive survey, along with a review of topographical features and historical documents, will provide further information to aid the board in its decision making.

The first survey indicated some form of Native American presence on at least part of the Ridge Field, as well as in several other locations across the property.  Even in Jefferson's time, people found stone tools and spear points around the grounds.  The long-range plan calls for preserving and interpreting the most significant Native American sites on the property.

The current survey along one edge of the Ridge Field is finding what archaeologists call a “moderate scatter” of stone artifacts, known as lithics, tentatively identified as dating back 4,000 to 6,000 years.

The lithics are evidence of stone tool manufacturing: quartz points and dozens of flakes of stone cast off during the manufacturing process. 

“Because we haven't found a high a concentration of evidence, we believe that this site was used intermittently over the years for short periods of time,” says Scott Grammer, who oversees the field survey.  “With a high ridge next to a stream, this would have been a great place to stop. ”

Little is known about these early people who used the Ridge Field as a way station.  Native Americans of this era and location were nomadic hunters and gatherers, moving seasonally in bands of about 20. Because of past plowing in the field, archaeologists haven’t found any intact soil layers dating to that period that would help round out understanding of this site.

Archaeologists have created a grid system to methodically excavate the area.  Test pits, measuring 2 feet square, are dug to depths ranging from one to three feet at intervals of 25 feet.  It will take more than 2,000 pits to finish this survey.  The crew is also using metal detectors to search for historical artifacts such as nails that would point to the past existence of buildings, such as slave quarters or barns.

The Ridge Field survey comprises 1.3 million square feet, or 30 acres, and is expected to take the rest of the year to complete.  Archaeologists have surveyed about one-third of the site already.