End of Week 1: A Building (Re)Discovered

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!

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

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...)

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

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

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

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.