Previous Archaeology
1998 Excavation
In early 1998, Colonial Williamsburg’s decision to relocate a tenant house to the Ravenscroft property provided the opportunity for additional archaeology. During December 1997, archaeologists performed limited testing of an area on the lots which had been designated to contain the tenant house exhibit. This testing consisted of the excavation of nine 75-by-75-cm units placed at ten-meter (about 33 foot) intervals across the site. Within these units, over two thousand artifacts were recovered and two features were revealed that were possibly the remains of seventeenth- or eighteenth-century activities. Historical research indicated that these lots were occupied throughout the eighteenth century. As a result of the historical and archaeological investigation, a full-scale excavation was recommended for the area to be affected by the placement of the museum exhibit.
Features found in 1998.
From January 12 to February 3, 1998, excavations were performed on the site by a crew of Colonial Williamsburg excavators directed by project archaeologist Margaret W. Cooper.
The excavation consisted of mechanical removal of the disturbed soil within the impact area of the proposed structure, and careful recording and excavation by hand of the intact archaeological features that lay below. The results of this investigation were significant. Perhaps most interesting was the rediscovery of a brick foundation and cellar that had been constructed within a ravine during the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Associated with this structure was a thick refuse deposit that was sealed with a clay cap in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Many artifacts were recovered from this refuse, which provided information as to the date the building was constructed and the materials in use immediately after this construction. Also discovered were the remains of two possibly structural eighteenth-century posts and a narrow, Middle Plantation-era boundary ditch.
Excavation of midden in progress.
(Click on image to enlarge)
View of the midden in profile showing
the various layers of soil.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Features found in 1998 include:
