Archaeology at the Fairbanks House

Lab Update: On Cross-mending...

2011-04-22T16:30:00.007-04:00

It has been a couple of months since the final artifact was entered into the catalog. It certainly felt good to insert that final entry (artifact # 20,395!), but our work continues. In my last post, I talked about the process of cross-mending, a task that currently occupies most of our time in the lab. Just to review, cross-mending involves the reassembly of vessels across contexts, that is, between units rather than simply within them, providing us with a more accurate count of just how many objects were discarded at the site. The process has been slow, to say the least.

I decided that we would start with blue transfer-printed ceramic vessels because they are typically the easiest to mend; given that the sherds are printed with discernible images, it's sort of like putting together multiple puzzles without actually knowing how many puzzles are represented or how many pieces make up each puzzle. We spent about 4 hours removing all of the blue transfer-printed pieces from their respective bags and laying them out on the table according to their associated unit number and layer letter. Then we began to cross-mend, beginning with the vessels that seemed like they were mostly present in some number of pieces. Once we decided a vessel was "finished" (that is, there were no more pieces that could be mended to it), we documented how many sherds comprised the vessel and from which units the sherds came, and then we photographed the assembled vessel for reference purposes (see below).

Above: A cross-mended plate produced by the Stevenson and Williams company in 1825 in Cobridge, Staffordshire, England.

These pictures show the vessels reassembled in place, but not actually glued back together. The reason for this is quite simple: a fully mended and glued vessel is much harder to store than a bag of ceramic sherds. We determined that until we know what objects will be displayed in the Fairbanks House museum, we would not firmly mend any of the ceramic vessels. Of course, that doesn't stop us from getting a great look at what the objects looked like when the would have been used, an image that is easy to forget when we spend most of our time digging up tiny pieces (see below for a personal favorite vessel).

Given that we've spent nearly a month working only on the blue transfer-printed ceramics and we've not yet finished with them, we will likely be working on cross-mending for many more months. Keep checking back for more updates from the lab!

Above: My favorite vessel - a platter featuring the Boston State House and Boston Common (note the cows grazing in the foreground!). Due to the poor preservation of the vessel, the pattern is difficult to see entirely (head here to see an intact version of the platter). This platter was manufactured by the John Rogers and Son company sometime between 1815 and 1842.

Springtime (sort of) in the Lab (v2.0)

2011-02-15T15:35:00.017-05:00

In the months since we closed up our excavations at the Fairbanks House, there's been surprisingly little down time. With the help of some amazing members of the BU undergrad community who have put in over 600 hours of volunteer time, we have managed to wash, label, and catalog over 18,000 artifacts. Fortunately, there is an end (to this step of the process) in sight. Today marked the conclusion of the washing phase. Once our labelers have a chance to catch up, and I've had a chance to catalog the remaining material, we will begin the process of cross-mending.

Above: Artifacts waiting to be cataloged (incl. mortar, stoneware, coarse earthenware, various glass types, etc.)

Right: Volunteer lab worker Mike cleans the last of the artifacts from last summer. Huzzah! (right)

Cross-mending sounds simple enough, and I suppose it is, in theory. To begin, we will choose an artifact type, say, coarse earthenware, green glass, or American stoneware. Then we'll query the artifact catalog to determine in which units our artifact type was found. Then we dig into our archival boxes, pull out the desired artifacts, and lay them out on the table. Finally, we begin attempting to piece together vessels from the chosen pieces (you can see why labeling the artifacts before removing them from their bags is so important!). I'll be communicating with the staff at the Fairbanks House to determine what they would like to display so that we can mend together those vessels that will have a place in the house museum. Cross-mending also gives us an idea of a minimum vessel count, that is, the lowest possible number of vessels that could be represented by our artifacts. Once we have generated this more refined picture of household purchase and use of artifacts, we can begin to speculate about purchasing patterns, dining practices, household economy, etc.

Left: Boxes of artifacts from the '09 and '10 seasons

Below: A page from the 1843 probate inventory
conducted following the death of Mary Fairbanks in the same year.

Another major phase of this project that I'll be working on this spring will be researching the documentary history of the Fairbanks House property. This involves reading through historic deeds, wills, probate inventories (lists of household contents created after the death of a head of household), tax records, census data, etc. My central goal is to trace the changes made to the property through time. For instance, when Jonathan Fairbanks first moved to Dedham in 1636, he was given 12 acres on which to build his home. Throughout the years, his descendants bought and sold land connected to the homestead and in the greater Dedham area. Eventually, their holdings amounted to the acre or so on which the house currently rests. I'm hopeful that by studying the documents, I'll be able to learn something about the flux of land holdings through time. I am also hopeful that by studying documents such as wills and probate inventories, I'll get a better picture of what objects filled the Fairbanks House, especially those objects that don't survive in the archaeological record (such as organic objects, including clothing, wooden tools, foodstuffs, etc.).

It is this combination of focus on the material and documentary records that defines historical archaeology. Hopefully these methods will shed some light on the lesser-known aspects of life in the past at the Fairbanks House.

Mystery Glass Vessel (Mystery Solved!)

2010-10-04T17:25:00.010-04:00

Incidentally, this mystery has been solved. The glass globes are..... target balls! Used for target practice prior to the introduction of clay pigeons, these artifacts were produced throughout the 19th century. Read more about glass target balls at this website.

Pewter Button

2010-09-24T16:01:00.003-04:00

End of Week 5: End of the Road

2010-06-11T19:50:00.011-04:00

Five weeks have come and gone and so has our time at the Fairbanks House. Although our final week of excavation meant that we spent much of our time cleaning, photographing, and drawing the various excavation units, we also managed to squeeze in some very interesting discoveries.

One of the main tasks we wanted to accomplish this week was to explore under the cobble floor of the barn. We hoped that by removing some of the cobbles, we might locate evidence of previous architecture below the floor or, at the very least, find some artifacts that would assist our efforts to date the building's construction. In this respect, we half-succeeded. No evidence of any other structures existed under the floor, but we did find a small collection of ceramic sherds (creamwares and early transfer-printed pearlwares) that date to late 18th or early 19th centuries.

Below: How do you clean a cobble floor? With a vacuum, of course! (left); Alex and President of the Fairbanks Family in America Board of Directors Al Blood excavating beneath a section of the cobble floor (right)

In the interest of sampling under multiple sections of cobble flooring, we removed some of the boulder scatter present in the northeastern corner of the building (the corner in which we found the large amount of intact bottles and other artifacts). The stream of material culture did not dry up, resulting in the recovery of 25 bags of artifacts in a single day. Included in this haul were large fragments of stoneware jugs, yellow ware chamber pots, small glass vials, and a bone-handled knife. However, my personal favorite find was something different. Check out some pictures of it below...

Below: Front side of the flask showing the American eagle (left); obverse side of the flash showing the gateway with Masonic imagery (right)

This bottle is a Masonic flask made by the Keene-Marlboro Street Glassworks in Keene, New Hampshire. It features an American eagle on the front (note the flag chest piece and the arrows and olive branch in its talons) and a gateway covered in Masonic symbols on the back (my personal favorite is the combination of the skull and crossed bones and a trowel to the left of the doorway -- pretty much sums up archaeology!). These flasks were manufactured primarily between 1810 and 1830, although they continued to be produced up until 1840. Our next step will be to research the production, sale, and use of these bottles. Would/could they be purchased only by Masons? If so, were any of the Fairbanks House occupants Masons during the early 19th century? If these flasks could be purchased and used by anyone, was the Masonic imagery legible (in the social sense) to non-Masons or was their secrecy entirely impenetrable? Whatever the answers to these questions, an artifact with such vibrant details is always a wonderful find.

We were also quite fortunate this week to be visited by a reporter and photographer from the Boston Globe. You can read the article and view a short video documenting the field season here.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. As much as it pained us to do it (literally...), we had to fill in our excavation units, resealing the barn's foundations and floor. Now it's time to head into the lab to wash and catalog all of the finds from the summer season. However, before I sign off for now, there are a number of people that must be thanked. First, I'd like to thank Frank Carvino, Al Blood, Lee Anne Hodson, and the entire Fairbanks Family in America Board of Directors for their continued support. You really know how to make a guy feel welcome. I'd also like to thank Ellen Berkland and her crew of volunteers for their frequent assistance. Thanks to John LaRosa of JCL Excavation for his interest and his generous donation offer and thanks to Brian MacQuarrie at the Boston Globe for taking an interest in our work. Last but not least, thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers who came out to help our project, especially Brittany Boesenhofer, Alex Kara, Nason Sinkula, and Meg Thibodeau. Most of all, thanks to Alex Keim -- without his constant enthusiasm and good cheer, we all would've had much less fun.

And thanks to you for spending the time to read these occasional posts. I hope you've enjoyed reading about our excavations as we did completing them.

End of Week 4: Bottles!

2010-06-04T19:38:00.006-04:00

The fourth, and second-to-last, week of excavation was our of busiest and most exhausting to date. We were visited by a number of large school groups, which gave us the opportunity to share the pleasures (and workload) of field archaeology. We also started to feel the crunch of time as the season's end began peering at us from around a corner. As a result, we ratcheted up the intensity of our days and were rewarded for our efforts.

We began the week faced with the task of exposing the northeastern corner of the barn in an attempt to explain the large boulder scatter covering a few of our units. While this area was chock full o' rocks, we were able to find the point where the northern and eastern walls met. In this corner space, we located a small patch of cobble floor on top of which were deposited a HUGE number of exciting artifacts, including large fragments of ceramic pitchers and chamber pots and a number of intact glass bottles of all sizes (see below).

Without outlining all of the finds from this area, I'd be remiss without showing one of our favorites: it's a glass bottle embossed with the words "BURNETT'S/ COCOAINE" (see below). Naturally, we were all quite tickled -- here was evidence of drug use at the Fairbanks House! Of course, as I've mentioned previously, self-medication was common in the 19th century and included all manner of drugs that are now illegal. However, we continued to be puzzled by the curious spelling until a quick Google search revealed that Mr. Burnett was not actually peddling a cocaine product, but a coconut product. Burnett's product was a coconut oil used for the treatment of balding or damaged hair. He may have been attempting to capitalize on the popularity of cocaine and cocaine products when he concocted such an evocative name.

Below: Brittany working on the northeastern corner of the barn, revealing a bunch of interesting finds (left); a bottle of "BURNETT'S COCOAINE" hair oil (right)

Our other major task for the week involved opening up a large unit in the center of the barn (see below). Although we determined that time would not allow us to expose the entire barn in plan, we measured out this large unit, the excavation of which will signify that we have revealed just over half of the barn's remains. The fill layer on the top of the unit yielded a massive quantity of artifacts including ceramic fragments, a pair of scissors, a number of buttons, a kitchen hook, and more.

This will be the last unit that we'll open for the remainder of the season. Next week will be spent cleaning, photographing, and drawing the existing units, after which time we will remove a section of the cobble flooring to see if evidence of any previous activities exists. And then of course, it's everyone's favorite time -- backfill day! Stay tuned for more as the season speeds to a close~

Below: the large center unit showing a section of cobble flooring and the building's southwest corner in the background (left); Alex taking elevations with Kyla, a frequent visitor to the site (right)

End of Week 3/Beginning of Week 4: Barn Barn Barn, Barn Barn

2010-05-31T18:43:00.007-04:00

Another week has gone by and we're still learning new things about our barn. After extending a unit towards the building's center, we've encountered a scattered layer of foundation-sized boulders (see the picture below). The boulders appear to be mixed with the ashy, artifact-rich layer that we've found in all of our units above the cobble floor and foundation walls, so we think the scatter occurred after the barn fell out of use. Once again, we'll be forced to expand our area of excavation in an attempt to explain away the confusion.

Towards the end of last week, we enjoyed the company of some classes from local elementary schools. Alex was kind enough to give explanations and demonstrations of basic archaeological techniques (see below). We love to chat with people and we encourage people of all ages to stop by and check out our progress!

Below: Alex standing on the scattered boulders (left); students helping Alex work the screen (right)

During our excavations this afternoon, we pulled a small glass bottle out of the trash layer above the cobble floor (see below). Embossed on one side of the bottle was the label "GALEN WOODRUFF/ PHARMACIST/ BOSTON" next to the picture of a mortar and pestle. A quick Google search revealed that Woodruff opened his pharmacy on the corner of Tremont St. and Dover St. in 1870. If the source book "Leading business men of Back Bay, South End, Boston Highlands, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester" (published in 1888) is to be trusted, then Galen Woodruff was "one of the leading practical pharmacists in the city" who always kept a "full and varied assortment of Drugs, etc." on hand.

Self-medication was quite common in the 19th century, so the discovery of a bottle of this sort is not at all surprising. It is, however, always fun to find something that can be firmly researched to an individual person operating in the past. It's the sort of thing that keeps us coming back! Stay tuned for more from the barn~

Below: Galen Woodruff pharmaceutical bottle

Check Out the Fairbanks House on Facebook!

2010-05-28T12:14:00.004-04:00

For news and updates on all things Fairbanks House, be sure to check out the Fairbanks House page on Facebook. Just enter "Fairbanks House" on your Facebook search bar and it will be the first result. Enjoy!

The Case of the Curious Barn

2010-05-26T21:48:00.006-04:00

As the title suggests, we've come to the conclusion that the outbuilding we are busily excavating was a barn. Quite a large barn, in fact. And an awfully curious barn. When I say curious, of course I mean that it does not seem to comply with our assumptions of a basic four-walled rectangular structure.

As a means of explanation, I offer a picture: below, Alex is excavating dirt from the cobble floor in the southeastern corner of the barn. The feature's southern wall is visible to Alex's left and its eastern wall is visible behind him and to his right. What strikes us as unexpected is the length of what looks like foundation wall running directly to Alex's right, perpendicular to the foundation wall. This line of stones is short, extending out approximately 3ft from the eastern foundation wall. At this point, we're not sure if it is the foundation of a buttress, a line of stalls, or some other architectural feature. When faced with these sorts of questions, the only thing left to do is dig! We'll place a unit over the eastern wall of the feature with the hope that if this short extension is repeated along the wall, then we'll find its further iterations.

Above: the aforementioned picture of Alex digging in the southeastern corner of the barn

The artifacts keep on coming, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. However, things got interesting today when we stumbled upon what seems to be a copper-alloy necklace constructed of small, delicate metal rings strung on a cord. Check out the picture below as the necklace emerges from the ground.

Above: copper-alloy ring necklace as it appeared in the unit

Last, but not least, enjoy a panoramic image taken of the units excavated this season from on top of our mountainous back-dirt pile. The picture is taken facing north and the 1641 house is to the back of the photographer. Click on the image for a larger version.

We've been very fortunate with the weather this week -- despite the boiling heat, there has been no sign of rain. We'll spend the rest of the week investigating the eastern wall of the structure and, time permitting, begin to explore the central portion of the barn.

End of Week 2: Building an Outbuilding

2010-05-23T14:34:00.006-04:00

As week two of our summer's excavations draws to a close, our progress is very encouraging. Eight days of digging, eight units excavated, and one outbuilding almost defined. Much like our first week, our work was accomplished only with the help of a number of volunteers from Boston and Dedham. Our eight units have clarified definitively the positions and alignment of two of the outbuilding's walls. Furthermore, we are reasonably certain that we've also located the final two walls, but we'd like to expand two of our units a bit further before we can feel comfortable saying we've sorted out the feature's dimensions. Check out the image below to see where we've dug and the tentative outline of the outbuilding.

Above: map showing the units excavated this season (in green), the hypothesized outline of the outbuilding (shown as a red line), and the feature's proximity to the Fairbanks House (outlined in gray)

One we work a bit more to identify the foundations of the outbuilding, we will place a unit where we believe the center of the structure to be. This will help us to determine if the building was subdivided in any way. The final step in the investigation of the outbuilding will be to remove a portion of the cobble floor to see if evidence of a previous structure exists underneath.

Below: Alex and Shemi dig with Tom Clinton, director of the Dedham Youth Commission (left); Oskar looks on as Nason examines some ceramic fragments (right)

Artifacts from the Outbuilding

2010-05-19T14:00:00.012-04:00

As we continue to excavate around the outbuilding feature, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the artifacts that have come out of the excavations. The vast majority of the artifacts depicted here comes from the trash layer deposited directly above the building foundations and floor.

The spherical brown glass bottles discovered en masse have been returned to the lab and cleaned up a bit (see below). A total of 54 bottle necks were discovered. A close examination of the bottle fragments reveals slightly raised lines running around the outsides of each bottle -- these lines are the result of the molding process. The bottle-making process involved the transference of molten glass into a mold, which was squeezed together into a bottle shape. When the mold was removed, thin lines of glass remained where the pieces of the mold fit together. In the picture below on the right, these lines, or "mold scars," are visible on either side of the bottle necks (bottom row) and the rounded bottle bottoms (top row). The circular scars present on the bottle bottoms are indicative of the Owens machinated bottling technology, patented in 1903.

Below: An army of brown glass bottlenecks (left); three pairs of bottle necks and bottle bottoms (right)

Of course, the bottles were not the only objects to be deposited within the feature. A wealth of ceramic and glass vessel fragments have been discovered, some of which are shown below.

Above: Blue banded annular ware bowl (left); small porcelain saucer (right)

Below: Molded clear glass saucer (left); faceted transfer-printed whiteware cup (right)

These sorts of mass-produced artifacts are typical for archaeological sites dating to the recent past. However, people in the past did more than drink from cups and serve food on plates and saucers. Accordingly, we were thrilled to find more everyday sorts of objects within the ruins of the outbuilding. The artifact show below on the left is a slate pencil. The term "pencil" is something of a misnomer as the object does not actually contain lead. It is called pencil because it was a writing implement used to make marks on writing slates. This is the second slate pencil discovered this season. The object on the right, although heavily corroded, should be immediately familiar to most viewers: it is a small pair of scissors. Because of their diminutive size, the scissors were probably intended for use by a woman or a child.

Below: Slate pencil (left); scissors (right)

Last, but certainly not least, are the buttons. Black glass buttons and porcelain buttons, painted buttons and etched buttons, copper buttons and molded buttons. Before I get too Dr. Seuss-y, check just a small sample of the buttons we've found below.

Above: two faceted black glass buttons that were originally wrapped in iron wire to secure the glass to the metal shank [top], white porcelain button with pie-crust patterned edges [bottom left], and black glass button [bottom right] (left); etched black glass button with floral design [top left], corroded brass gilt button [top right], copper-alloy hook and eye set [bottom] (right)

Below: Painted porcelain button -- this artifact is particularly exciting because it is the first artifact that we've discovered which can be unequivocally linked to a resident of the Fairbanks House. The button was painted by Prudence Fairbanks (1781-1871); a set of identical buttons resides in the Fairbanks House museum.

End of Week 1: A Building (Re)Discovered

2010-05-16T18:17:00.012-04:00

The first week of the 2010 excavation season has come and gone and we're hoping the good weather portends well for the rest of our time at the house. During this week, we focused our efforts on uncovering more of the outbuilding discovered last summer. Thus far, we've been quite successful. Two 2x2m units revealed a section of foundation stones and a large portion of a cobble floor. Curiously, the foundation appears to either peter out or change direction (see the picture below) at a certain point. As you can see in the image below, the wall runs northward, but does not seem to be present in the next unit to the north. This may mean the building was not a simple four-walled, rectangular structure or that portions of the foundation were disassembled and reused or discarded. Only time will tell.

Above: Two 2x2m units; the unit to the south (bottom) shows foundation wall running south to north on the western side of the unit with cobble flooring on the eastern side, while the unit to the north (top) shows only cobble flooring.

After we finished the excavation of the two units shown above, we decided to move to the south in an attempt to find the corner of the structure. In the bottom right-hand corner of the above image, you can see a patch of tan soil -- this is the backfill from one of last year's test pits. In this test pit, we found a large stone we believed to be part of the southern foundation wall of the structure. So logically, we thought, excavation of the area between this year's units and last year's units would result in the identification of the southwestern corner of the building. Lo and behold, we were right.

Above: Staff archaeologist Alex excavating in the corner of the outbuilding.

Now that we've located one corner, we need to find two more corners to determine the overall dimensions of the structure. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we will be placing test units in line with our current foundations in an attempt to find where the walls end.

The trend of extraordinary artifact totals continues: I estimate that in our three full days and two half days of work last week, we recovered close to 1,000 artifacts. The vast majority of these finds comes from a single layer above both the floor and foundation walls that is full of 19th-century material. Because it covers both the walls and floor, we believe this layer may represent trash that was deposited on top of the building once it was no longer in use. If this is the case, it means we can very tentatively place the date of the building's demise around the late 19th-century. I can't mention artifacts without noting another trend that has continued, and even escalated, during our work: the button count continues to rise! On Friday, the screening of two buckets of soil from the trash deposition layer yielded 17 identical copper-alloy buttons, two of which still had cloth wrapped around them. These same two buckets also contained approximately 12 copper-alloy hooks and eyes (clasps used to secure clothing). What these finds mean in the grand scheme of things is yet to be determined.

During this week of work, we were incredibly fortunate to receive assistance from a number of sources (see below). In addition to our regular group of wonderful undergraduate volunteers, graduate students from Boston University who happened to still be in the area very kindly donated their time to a fellow student and their efforts were greatly appreciated. Additionally, Ellen Berkland, City Archaeologist for the city of Boston brought a hardy crew out take part in the dig. Their combined labor provided a strong boost to the season's progress. And we also were aided by the extremely energetic and adorable hands of some enthusiastic visitors to the site. To all who helped out this week, we offer our humble and profound thanks.

Below: Our industrious crew of helpers hard at work (left); help comes in all sizes (right)

Stay tuned later this week: a look at artifacts from the outbuilding excavation to come!

Season Two Has Begun!

2010-05-12T18:15:00.017-04:00

That's right, after ten months away, we've returned to the Fairbanks House for another season of excavation! This summer is sure to bring some interesting finds as we're targeting a number of features around the property, including the cobble-floored outbuilding and cellar discovered last year and a shed that once stood on the northern side of the house. Our first goal is to excavate the cobble-floored outbuilding completely to determine its size, function, and periods of use/disuse.

In order to fully explore the outbuilding, we will excavate a number of units next to one another, following the foundation and floor we uncovered last season. This method will allow us to locate the edges of the feature. Although we've only had a single full day and two half days of excavation thus far, the first unit has not disappointed. Much like the test pits from the '09 season, the unit contains a large deposit of soil that is chock full of 19th-century material, including ceramic sherds, nails, and glass. Also consistent with our previous excavations is the oddly high number of buttons recovered from the area. So far, approximately 15 buttons have been found in our single 2x2m unit -- brass gilt buttons, porcelain buttons, faceted glass buttons, and iron buttons.

Also of interest was a deposit of hundreds of thin brown glass fragments discovered today in one corner of our unit. The pieces come from a large number of glass bottles with thin circular necks and rounded, not flat, bottoms. Judging by the number of bottle necks found, the deposit contains at least 30 bottles, and maybe more. Over the course of the week, we will continue excavating this unit, hopefully reach the cobble-floor, and in the process, reveal more of the foundation line. Stay tuned for more!

Above: Alex removes topsoil from the first unit of the season

Below: A bottle neck peeks out from the dirt (left); China, Brittany, and Alex hard at work (right)

Springtime in the Lab

2010-03-25T11:06:00.008-04:00

Now that spring is here, it's lab time for the Fairbanks Archaeology Project. Thanks to the kind assistance of Boston City Archaeologist Ellen Berkland and her team of volunteers, the artifacts from this summer's excavations have been washed. Now the next steps can commence: cataloging, labeling, and bagging.

Cataloging is a process that involves sorting artifacts by exact type (i.e., "Creamware," "Machine-cut Nails," "Mold Blown Green Glass," etc) and entering the data into a Microsoft Access database that had to be created specifically for this project. Important characteristics such as dimensions, decoration, and wear patterns are entered into this database, along with the total counts of each type of artifact. This information can then be tabulated and queried within the Access database, or it can be (and will eventually be) linked to a Geographical Information System (GIS) for the purposes of spatial mapping and analysis.

Once the artifacts have been cataloged, some of them move to another part of the lab for labeling. Only artifacts which lend themselves to the labeling process due to their hardness and propensity for mending are labeled. This generally means ceramics, glass, and some bone are the artifacts that are targeted for the three step labeling process. First, the artifact receives a small strip of clear nail polish. This establishes a base. Then the context number (in this case "FBH" for Fairbanks House, the unit number, and the layer letter ["101F" in the picture on the right]) is applied using India Ink and an ink pen. Lastly, another layer of clear nail polish is applied over the context number to seal it.

The reasoning behind this process is that if pieces of ceramic or glass from different layers or units can be mended into a single vessel, one can examine the reconstructed vessel and locate which fragments came from which contexts. It's also useful if artifacts are removed from bags for study or display -- once labeled, they never lose their context.

Once labels are applied to the necessary artifacts, all materials are bagged according to their type. Each bag receives important contextual information, including site number ("C27"), context number ("FBH1---"), unit type (e.g., "Driveway Test Pit"), and the date that excavation of the context began. All of the bags of artifacts are combined into master bags for each unit, which are then placed into acid-free boxes for archival storage (see below). Because they are so thoroughly organized, it becomes easy to examine the artifact catalog and remove any materials for mending, photographing, drawing, or general study.

Of course, this project does not end once the artifacts are processed. Hours of research and analysis will result in a site report and further research about the historical residents of the Fairbanks House property. Since September, a dissertation proposal has been approved, conference papers have been presented, and grant proposals have been written. This is just the beginning of the Fairbanks Archaeology Project. Stay tuned for more to come this summer.....

Final Update for the Season (a bit late...)

2009-09-13T14:24:00.007-04:00

After six productive weeks in the field, we have come to the end. Granted, that end was about three weeks ago, but no matter.

Our final week in the field yielded some interesting finds. We spent the time excavating in the bottom of the cellar feature while also choosing to extend the northernmost unit by another 50cm. It was a fortunate decision because in the northern wall of the extended unit, we discovered what is almost certainly a portion of the northern wall of the stone-lined cellar. In addition, we've exposed a greater portion of the western wall (visible in the picture below on the left). Towards to bottom of the cellar, against both the western and northern walls, we found two caches of large fragments of earthenware vessels (butter pots, milk pans, etc). One of these deposits can be seen in the video clip below.

Above: left - Volunteer archaeologists Andrew Griffin and Cory Hodson excavating in the bottom of the cellar feature; right - video clip of an earthenware cache next to the northern wall

At this point, the future of the cellar feature is uncertain. As it is constricted to the east by a live gas line and the existing driveway and to the south by a water drain, we may have done all we can do with this feature. That said, we've recovered such a wealth of information, in terms of landscape use, building construction, and artifact use, that this isn't necessarily a problem. Without the necessity of re-excavating approximately 6 cubic meters of backfilled dirt, we will have more time in future seasons to devote to the other areas on the property, namely the outbuilding to the north of the house and the shed-like feature to the south of the house that we had initially planned to investigate this season.

With the field season completed, the processing begins. Artifacts will be cleaned, sorted, and cataloged. All of our paperwork will be typed up and all of our drawings will be digitized in Adobe Illustrator and other digital editing software. Research will begin into the artifacts and their relation to the property, all in preparation for the writing of an interim site report. This report will be placed on file with the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) and the Fairbanks House library. Basically, although we're no longer digging, the real work has truly begun.

As a closing note, I would like to personally thank a number of people without whom this project would never have gotten off of the ground. Thanks very much to Dr. Mary Beaudry of Boston University for her close guidance throughout this project and into the present. Thanks to Richard Lowry for connecting me with the Fairbanks House. Thanks to Dr. Alex Service and the Fairbanks Board for their continued enthusiasm and support. Thanks to Ellen Berkland, city archaeologist of Boston, for her assistance both in the excavation and processing of artifacts. And lastly, a hearty thank you to my wonderful volunteers, especially Maggie Burr, Josh Howard, Alex Keim, and Adrien Smith, for their consistent service, interest, positive attitudes, and willingness to put up with me.

It was a fantastic summer and we look forward to future work at the Fairbanks House and beyond. Keep an eye on the blog for more updates about the archaeology of the country's oldest timber-framed house!

Week 5 Update

2009-08-13T11:07:00.007-04:00

As I write this blog entry in the oddly freezing cold archaeology lab, I can look out the windows at the rain pounding the building's A/C unit. Another day, another rain shower.

Since finishing up the outbuilding feature near the house for the season, we've moved back to our subterranean feature by the driveway. This week has been spent working on two units placed adjacent to the three existing units in this area (see the updated dig map below). We've also added a unit west of the original driveway line as another check on the local stratigraphy. The new unit was placed just west of our second test pit in which we found an historic posthole.

Above: Updated dig map (green units are in progress, blue units are finished, and orange units are finished for this season)

The two units placed in the area of the underground feature have proved very exciting. Beginning approximately 40cm below surface, we revealed a line of large stones running SE to NW through both units (see below). As we continued to dig down, it appears that there is a second course of stones under the first, a find that supports the hypothesis that these stones represent a wall in the subterranean feature. Our goal now is to continue digging on the east side of this line of stones down to the current depth of the first three units in this area. We'll only dig on the east side in an effort to preserve the structural integrity of the stones just in case they do actually form a wall. Once we've excavated down through the final level of ashy furnace deposit throughout the feature, we'll keep digging in all five units and hopefully discover the floor surface of this exciting structure.

Above: LEFT - overhead view of the top of the potential stone wall; RIGHT - view showing the five in-progress units dug into the subterranean feature

With only five digging days left (excluding our last day which will be spent backfilling our feature units), there's still a lot of work to be done to finish up the feature units and the extra test pit. Keep an eye on the blog next week as we come down to what may be the floor of our feature!

End of Week 4: Of Newspapers and Outbuildings

2009-08-08T14:34:00.012-04:00

The good news from the middle of this week: a reporter from the Daily News Transcript came out to the site on Wednesday to check out our progress and write up a piece for the paper (you can see the article here). The bad news from the middle of this week: the reporter came one day too late.

Thursday signaled a move away from the western yard of the property towards the area just north of the Fairbanks House. After carefully observing the current conditions in this location, we began by opening two units (we later added a third). There are a number of stones of various sizes poking up out of the ground and by drawing lines between them, we come up with the outline of a potential feature (see below).

Above: This photo shows the stones on the surface (outlined in red) and the potential lines drawn between them (dotted yellow lines). It also shows the units put in straddling these lines.

In an effort to test our feature hypothesis, we put in two units over these theorized lines. It wasn't long before we came down on two scatters of stones that support our hypothesis (see below). In the layers above these stones, we found hundreds of artifacts, most of which date from the late 18th to the late 19th centuries.

Above: Two overhead shots of the outbuilding feature.

One of the units turned up one very large rock and several other small ones in a line which we believe represents a building foundation. The other unit revealed a scatter of smaller stones which may illustrate a collapsed wall. These two test pits show that we clearly have evidence of some sort of outbuilding located to the north of the original house.

Above: LEFT - six buttons (five brass, one porcelain) from the two outbuilding test units. The top row of buttons has been cleaned using a water/lemon juice mixture while the bottom two brass buttons have not been cleaned. The larger brass buttons bear the backmark "BENEDICT/TREBLE GILT," a signature of the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Company. The smaller button's backmark reads "B.B. Extra Rich" and was probably made by the same company. RIGHT - two pipes from the outbuilding test units. The bottom pipe bears a decorative box with the name "McDougall's" stamped in it. The McDougall Company operated out of Glasgow, Scotland and began producing pipes in 1846.

As exciting as these finds are, due to a lack of time (only two weeks left!), we've decided to close these units and move back to the subterranean feature near the driveway. This outbuilding will be the central part of next summer's work at the site.

Stay tuned as we try to get everything wrapped up over the next two weeks!

Week 4 Midweek Update: Sand, Sand Everywhere and Way Too Much to Dig

2009-08-05T19:31:00.007-04:00

The weather has been warm and humid and those of us digging at the Fairbanks House have been fortunate enough to spend most of our time on a beach... sort of. After moving west of the driveway in an attempt to "look beneath the sand" found in our first line of test units, we were more than slightly chagrined to find that the sand is everywhere!

Above: Updated dig map (red units are planned, green units are in progress, blue units are finished)

After digging through a test unit at the base of the driveway mound and another to the west in the yard (see above), we found that the clean, sterile sand showed up in the bottom of these units. Confused and not a little exasperated, we placed another test unit roughly 50m west of the driveway near a cluster of trees. This choice of location was founded upon the hypothesis that large trees (these are at least 30-40m tall) cannot grow in pure sand. Apparently, though, they can, and do.

Although we're still a bit unsure about the sand situation, our days of clearing out meters and meters of the stuff have come to an end (we hope!). In an effort to explore another portion of the property, we laid out two units to the north of the house today in the area where our geophysical survey may have found a buried living surface. Hopefully these units will give us a hint about another historic building on the property (and provide something other than sand).

Stay tuned this week and next for what could be some exciting developments!

Left: Josh backfilling a unit with, you guessed it, sand.

Below: Josh and volunteer archaeologist Max excavated a unit in the west yard.

The Chronology of Confusion to Clarity, or, How to Dig an Archaeological Feature

2009-07-31T16:31:00.012-04:00

Since there hasn't been much in the way of artifacts lately, I thought I'd post a brief series of photos that gives some insight into what archaeologists actually see when they dig a feature.

While working on unit 107, the second-to-last driveway test pit on the southern end of the line, we began to encounter dark brown stains in orange-yellow soil of our layer (see above left). Note the circular-looking stain towards the top of the right-hand photo and the boxy stain towards the bottom-right (both outlined in turquoise). There was also some sort of strange boxy looking stain poking out of the top wall (outlined in red). We were confused, so we cleaned the unit up a bit, took these pictures, and then began to explore a bit further. After scraping off some more dirt...

... we found that the stains were not part of separate features, but rather part of one large feature that almost encompassed the entire unit (see it outlined in blue in the above right image). Another reason that we could be sure it was a feature distinct from the orange-yellow layer is because of what it contained, namely, charcoal. The charcoal inclusions show up black in the above left photo and are highlighted in red in the above right photo.

Ok, so we've got a feature. Now what?

First, we bisect the feature and dig one half of it so that we can see a profile (above left). Think of it as studying an unknown species: after looking at it from the outside, you have to dissect it to see what's inside! Once half of the feature has been removed, we draw and photograph the feature's profile (above right -- feature profile outlined in turquoise). Once the profile has been documented, we dig out the rest of the feature and end up with...

... a clean and finished unit!

Unfortunately, even when all due attention is paid to a unit and the features therein, things get missed. In this case, while we worked hard to uncover this large brown feature, we completely missed another feature positioned in the unit. You can see it in the picture below, outlined in red.

So despite our best efforts, we still missed some information. This just goes to show that archaeology is not an exact science, or really a science at all. Archaeology is about problem solving, critical thinking, careful evaluation and observation, and occasionally, just darned good luck.

End of Week 3: The Times They Are A-Changin'

2009-07-31T15:50:00.008-04:00

Although we faced rain-shortened days yesterday and today, progress continues. Because this is the official half-way point of the excavation, there have been a few changes made to our overall goals for the season.

Above: Updated dig map (red units are planned, green units are in progress, and blue units are finished)

For starters, we've decided to open up a unit in the western yard of the property to provide a 'control' unit of sorts. We're interested in what lies beneath the raised mound of sand next to driveway, but since we can't actually dig under it, we'll move west into the yard area. We've also opened up a unit between a finished driveway test pit and the planned yard unit. This pit straddles the base of the raised mound and the yard; we hope to document the transition between these two components of the property (see the photo below).

Above: In the foreground, volunteer archaeologists Maggie, Cory, and Andrew work on the test pit at straddling the base of the driveway mound. In the background, volunteer archaeologist Josh works on the last driveway test pit. (In case you can't tell, the Fairbanks House [c. 1641] is the one on the left and the curator's house [c. 1912] is on the right).

We also plan on expanding the subterranean feature two-fold by placing 3 1x1m units to the west of the existing units. Hopefully this will give us a clearer picture of the feature's characteristics.

Lastly, we will move to the area north of the Fairbanks House where our ground-penetrating radar survey revealed a possible buried living surface. We will place two units in this area with the purpose of exposing this potential feature and providing crucial information for planning the future stages of excavation at the Fairbanks House property.

As forecasts turn a bit drier and we introduce a new set of volunteer archaeologists, check back next week for more updates from the dig...

Left: volunteer archaeologist Alex excavates the third unit of our subterranean feature.

Week 3 Midweek Update: Progress!

2009-07-29T18:56:00.009-04:00

This week has been marked by hazy skies, scorching temperatures, and most importantly, progress! After gaining a skilled extra set of hands from Alex, another BU graduate student, we were graced with the assistance of Ellen Berkland, the City Archaeologist of Boston, and her team of four volunteers (Amee, Dave, Richard, and Damaris). With their help, we were able to knock out a number of test pits next to the driveway.

Updated dig map (red units are planned, green units are
in progress, and blue units are finished)

As you can see on the map, we now have three finished units, with two more individual 1x1m units in progress near the southern end of the driveway, and a line of 3 1x1m units on hold in the area of our subterranean feature. We'll spend the rest of the week trying to finish the final two driveway test pits before moving back to the feature area.

Above: left - Amee, Damaris, and Ellen screening excavated soil, looking for artifacts;
right - Alex and Josh work on unit 108, the southern-most driveway test pit

Most of the completed test pits have not turned up much in the way of interesting artifacts or features. This is almost certainly because the area next to the southern portion of the driveway has been built up at some point in the property's history such that instead of the natural slope of the landscape, there is a flat expanse of grassy lawn. We don't have any written records of this landscape alteration so we're left to hypothesize. It seems likely that this change was made to provide a larger space for vehicles to park. In any case, after digging through some thin levels of topsoil, we encountered over a meter of pure sand. The units soon became too deep to dig (sand walls at great depths become a stability hazard) so we were forced to cease excavation. While this is unfortunate, it gives us more time to devote to the feature area.

Stay tuned as we complete the remaining test pits and continue to explore our underground feature!

Above: left - Ellen's dog Oskar helping us dig through the back-dirt pile;
right - Dave and Amee working on a test pit

Week Two Update (Artifacts!)

2009-07-24T17:42:00.015-04:00

Unfortunately the weather, as it does, has refused to cooperate so we were stuck indoors today. In lieu of a dig update, I offer an artifact update showing some of the finds recovered from the feature area of the excavation.

Pictured to the right is an ironstone plate (in two pieces) that came out of the bottom of the three furnace deposits. It's in wonderful condition and features a very legible maker's mark on the back (shown in the inset). The mark identifies the type of ware ("Stone China"), the manufacturer ("Anthony Shaw"), and the location of manufacture ("Burslem"). Stone China is another name for what is commonly called ironstone, a heavy, sturdy white table ware. Anthony Shaw was a potter operating in the 19th century. We know from historical records that Shaw used this particular maker's mark from 1850 to 1882. He later changed the mark to "Anthony Shaw & Sons" to include his sons in the family business. The family operated out of Burslem, a small town that later became part of Stoke-on-Trent in the ceramic-rich county of Staffordshire, England.

The picture on the left shows a late (probably 19th century) pipe bowl that has been burned. The red arrow shows where the stem of the pipe would project off of the bowl; the stem would be pretty long, usually at least 8-12 inches for a bowl of this size. The small projecting nub at the bottom of the bowl is called a "foot" and it allows the pipe to be set down without tipping over. Due to their durability as well as their ubiquity throughout the historical period, pipes are a common discovery on historical sites. As such, they have been studied vigorously and can now be dated to within a number of years based on the size and form of the bowl as well as the width of the pipe's bore.

The picture on the right shows two views of the base and partial side of an American stoneware vessel. Stoneware was produced in America throughout much of the historical period beginning in the 18th century, but the variety pictured here is almost certainly 19th century. It shows signs refined methods and quality craftsmanship.

Finally, the picture above shows a buckle from a set of suspenders. The buckle was produced by the C.A. Edgarton Manufacturing Company (opened in 1882, became known as the President Suspender Company around 1900) in Shirley, Massachusetts (hence the name). This particular model was called the "Shirley-President," the name which can be seen on the front of the buckle (left half of the image). The right side of the side shows the name "Shirley" in script. Advertisements for Shirley suspenders are very popular in today's antique market, especially in the form of 'baseball cards' produced by C.A. Edgarton (seen on the right: top - "President Suspenders, 50 cents"; bottom - "Easy on the shoulders, the back slides").

So once again we're left with our fingers crossed for a sun-enriched week next week. Keep those rain dances coming and we'll keep digging up interesting pieces of Massachusetts' history to share with you!

Mid-Week (sort of...) Update

2009-07-23T18:27:00.006-04:00

After losing a day due to rain (Tuesday), this week has felt a bit disjointed. Fortunately, we're very excited about what we've found at the bottom of the first test pit. It's too early to say exactly what we have, but this unit shows signs of a subterranean feature that was filled in during the 19th century.

In this picture, I'm working on an extension of our first unit. We decided
to expand the area of excavation to reveal a larger portion of the potential
feature (see the updated dig map below). The ladder and hardhat are
necessary to comply with OSHA regulations. And to look totally cool.

The "fill" constitutes a series of layers indicative of furnace cleaning. During the historical period, furnaces needed to be cleaned out regularly and these episodes leave relatively thin layers of ashy gray soil, often full of charcoal and/or broken artifacts. We've uncovered three separate episodes of furnace cleaning so far, the third and deepest of which has revealed a number of large fragments of 19th century ceramics (hence our ability to date the filling of the subterranean feature -- if the lowest level of fill dates to 19th century, then the layers above it almost certainly date to a similar or later time period). Unfortunately, these artifacts have already been taken to the lab and have not yet been photographed (sorry!).

Updated dig map showing extension of our first unit in an
attempt to reveal a larger amount of the potential
feature (red units are planned, green units are in progress,
blue units are finished)

Assuming the weather holds off tomorrow (and that's a big assumption these days), we hope to get to the lowest layers of the "feature" area. At that point, we hope to be able to then determine the nature of the feature. Keep an eye on the blog as there will be an update over the weekend (weather permitting!) including artifact photos and more news from the site...

End of Week One

2009-07-18T15:58:00.008-04:00

Five not-entirely-rain-free days in and things are progressing well with excavations at the Fairbanks House. One of the two test pits that were started this week has been completed and a new unit has been opened (see the updated dig map -- red units are planned, green units are in progress, and blue units are completed).

The completed unit did not turn up many artifacts, but when we finally reached subsoil (the base layer of glacial soil representing pre-historical time periods, roughly 1m below surface in this unit), we discovered our first feature: a small circular posthole (shown below outlined in blue, next to a photo of me cleaning the unit in preparation for taking photos). Because of its size, shape, and location on the property, it is hypothesized that the posthole represents a post in a fenceline. The unfortunate part of the discovery is that the unit only contained a single posthole so there is no way to know in which direction the fence runs. Due to this lack of clarity and for reasons of time, we decided against opening up other units in the area in an attempt to chase the fenceline.

The first unit that we opened up has turned up a number of 19th century artifacts including fragments of glass pharmaceutical bottles and whiteware plates. Another find of interest is what appears to be a double-sided kitchen pot hook. This hook (shown fresh from the ground) could be hung by the circular eye and would allow multiple pots to be hung. In the picture below, from top left: pot hook, fragment of blue shell-edged creamware plate, small aqua glass bottle (neck broken off), fragment of plain creamware plate, bottom of rectangular glass pharmaceutical bottle.

Despite a fearsome forecast full of thunderstorms, we're hoping to finish up the two units that are in progress next week. Stay tuned for more updates and as always, feel free to come out and visit the site Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm!

Day Two Report

2009-07-14T20:00:00.011-04:00

After a brief hiatus, we were able to begin excavations at the Fairbanks House this Monday! To kick things off, we began by opening two test pits directly west of the driveway (see the map below).

After initially laying out 50x50cm units, it was determined that repeated episodes of landscape grading (i.e., adding or removing soil in layers to build up or lower various parts of the property, usually for drainage purposes) meant we'd have a much larger amount of soil to dig through than we originally expected. As a result, it was decided that we'd expand our test units to 1x1m to make digging at significant depths a bit easier.

In the picture to the left: volunteer archaeologists Adrien and Robert break ground on our first two units.

Additionally, upon further examination of construction plans for the proposed driveway expansion, it was determined that six 1x1m test pits spaced in a row along the western edge of the driveway would be sufficient to evaluate the area (see the map on the right identifying our current excavation plan -- green units are those that we are currently working on, red boxes are proposed units).

As we move forward this week, we will try to finish excavating our first two test pits, a task that will provide a clear picture of the area's stratigraphy. Once we know how the layers of soil were deposited, we can move a bit faster through the remaining test pits.

In the picture to the left: volunteer archaeologists Adrien and Maggie excavate our first unit.

In the picture on the right: Adrien holding up a 1905 Indian Head penny found in our first test pit.

Editor's note: Some might question the archaeological value in something so "modern." In truth, much of the interest surrounding the Fairbanks House is focused on its 17th century beginnings and this is a fact I hope to change. The aim of my research is to tell the various stories of the Fairbanks property from its creation in the mid-17th century all the way to its current use as a site of heritage and remembrance.

Brief Delay

2009-07-07T12:18:00.002-04:00

Due to some unforeseen and therefore unavoidable circumstances, the dig will be delayed until NEXT Monday, July 13. Apologies for the confusion, but we will be ready to hit the ground running next week. Stay tuned for future updates!

About the Fairbanks House

2009-06-30T12:32:00.003-04:00

From the Fairbanks House website:

"The Oldest Timber Frame House

The Fairbanks House is believed to be the oldest surviving timber frame house in North America. It was built for a family of Puritan immigrants from Yorkshire in England, Jonathan and Grace Fairebanke and their six children. Dendrochonology (tree ring dating) has confirmed a construction date of the late 1630s-early 1640s. The house was passed down to succeeding generations of the family until the early twentieth century. In all, eight generations of the Fairbanks family lived in the house. Through the Fairbanks Family in America, Inc., the extended Fairbanks family still owns the property. Over the years, the original portion of the house was extended with additions as the family's needs changed and as the fashions of the times dictated. The current east and west wings were added in the early nineteenth century."

For more on the history of the Fairbanks House and how you can get involved in the curation of one of America's earliest treasures, check out the Fairbanks House website.

Before the fun begins...

2009-06-30T11:38:00.010-04:00

As this is our inaugural post, I thought I'd offer some insight into what we've been working on this summer and what our plans are for the Fairbanks excavations.

The first component of the project was to acquire and assess the artifacts that were excavated from around the house foundation in the 1970s as part of two conservation projects. Many of these artifacts were still sitting in their original bags, which had grown old and dusty over the course of 30 years of neglect. Some of the bags contained finds that hadn't even been washed! For the past four weeks, I've been working in the lab with a number of intrepid undergraduate and graduate volunteers from BU and other Boston-area institutions to wash and catalog these archives. Although we made a sizable dent in the finds recovered in 1973-1974, there is still a lot of work to be done in the lab before the collections can be properly analyzed. Much of this additional work is planned to take place in the Fall.

In addition to the lab work required by the artifacts from previous excavations, we will soon have a fresh load of artifacts to be washed/cataloged/analyzed. Beginning next Monday, July 6, we will be heading out into the field for our first season at the Fairbanks House! Our excavations this summer will move away from the immediate area of the house to other spots on the Fairbanks House property. We have targeted three locations for excavation. First, we will excavate a number of small test-pits in the area just west of the existing driveway. Our purpose here is to investigate whether or not the space would be suitable for an expansion of the existing driveway. Our second target is roughly 15m north of the house. This location was determined by a 2003 geophysical survey that discovered a possible buried living surface (i.e., the floor of a small outbuilding) on that spot. Lastly, we will be placing some test-pits approximately 8m south of the eastern portion of the house. This area was chosen because, after examining some old photographs of the site, a small shed was seen that is no longer standing. Our hope is that we will find some evidence of its existence and original function.

Planned excavation map for 2009 season -- small red squares are test pits,
building circled in orange to the north is the Fairbanks House (c. 1641) and the
building circled in orange to the south is the curator's house (c. early 20th century)

This summer's excavations will be carried out by myself along with a collection of volunteers ranging from high school, college, and graduate students to retirees and everything in between. Without their help, this dig would not be the exciting project that it is!

With the record-setting rains of June, we hope that July and August will bring sunny skies and fertile archaeology! Check back for periodic updates from our first season of excavations at the Fairbanks House...