Monday, March 10, 2008

Lab Update

So as you have already read, our day out at Port Tobacco last week didn't produce the results we were hoping for, but that doesn't mean it was devoid of information. I have just finished updating our catalog and map for the area with the information from last week. The area we were focusing on was around the Chimney House, front and back. In the front of the house we found what we would expect, 18th-century artifacts.

In the back, where we were looking for the infamous carriage shop, we were looking for mid 19th-century artifacts. And, in fact, we did find some of those artifacts, including ceramics and machine cut nails. Now, by no means does this tell us anything about the carriage shop but it does tell us that there was occupation there in the time-frame we were looking for.

Some architectural debris did come out as well: brick, nails, and mortar. While it doesn't help us date anything, it is still interesting to find them several hundred feet from the Chimney House itself.

It was nice to be out in the field at Port Tobacco last week even though it was for just a day. By now you all know the history of the town and as we have all said many times, you never know what you're going to find when you put a shovel in the ground out there. Every shovel load tells us more and more about the history of the town and its occupants.

That's all for now!

- Peter

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