Monday, October 26, 2009

Swann House fully exposed...needs cleaning

By lunchtime today, the team completely exposed the foundation of the building we think is the James A. Swann House. Elsie and Carol joined the GAC team, as did "Mr. Backfill," Mark Thompson...he used his front-end loader this past spring to backfill our units, saving time and our backs. He helped us make new backfill today.







The excavation exposed most of the hearth and two closet-like areas on either side. The hearth measures 8 ft wide on the exterior and around 5 ft wide on the interior. We haven't fully exposed it, but it looks like it may be close to 5 ft deep.

Thursday we will return and start drawing a detailed map of the structure while cleaning the last few bits. Hopefully we can begin excavating three test units in the interior next week. We'll just sample the most recent deposits and probably delay deep tests until next spring.

Jim

2 comments:

Scott said...

Please tell me that you chastised Anne for her erroneous conjecture of the foundation length. You promised!

Jim said...

Anne's estimate was off by nearly 10 ft. She was called on the carpet, explanations demanded, etc.

Actually, we haven't looked yet...it is possible she found yet another building.

But for now, the boss's superior judgment has been upheld...however, it is getting more difficult by the week. Damned youth!

Jim