August 21: Backfill Day

Cleaning Up the Last Unit


Beth mapping.


Everything closed up for the year.

Today was the last day at Rocky Nook for 2009. Before we closed up the units, each one was mapped in detail so they can be excavated further next year. Thank you to everyone who worked hard on the mapping process! After the maps were completed, the units were covered up and filled back in. Next year, we will removed the dirt again so we can start back where we left off. Even though we didn't find the cellars this year, we are pretty confident we are in the right place. One of the clues is another Coca-Cola bottle. This one was sitting near the surface of the last unit we opened this year. Unlike the bottle from last year, this one is much rarer and gives a better date for activity in the area. Instead of the usual green hobbleskirt bottles we are all familiar with, this one is clear and straight and was only produced in 1968 (one of the years Deetz was working on the site!). Another artifact to suggest his presence was a 1960's era garden rake head found in the lone NW unit that Pam, Alex, Sarah, and Jan had been working in. This is another clue that we might be looking at the cellar foundations next year!

Thank you again to all the volunteers and archaeologists that came out to work this year! We look forward to seeing what next year will reveal.

August 20: Dig Day 4

Emily and Jan sifting.


The large open area being cleaned.


The dark stain visible in this picture could be an indication of the previous excavation or a cellar foundation.

Once again we did not have any vandalism at the site today. Plus, the temperatures were much cooler than the rest of the week. We were very thankful on both points. We had one new volunteer join us today, Emily an intern from Plimoth Plantation, and it was a pleasure to have another zealous worker to help us finish. We opened up three more squares, one to the northwest of the main grid and two which extended the large open area further. None of them turned up anything significant with respect to artifacts, but the two added to the grid were able to show us more about what is going on. Unfortunately, it isn't showing us enough. There are many possibilities of what we are seeing. One could be that we are in an area that Deetz never dug, another could be that we are on a cellar and haven't gone deep enough to see the rest of the stone, or that this is indeed a section of his grid that he did not dig very deeply. Unfortunately, due to the make-up of the soil and our limited time here, we probably cannot make a conclusion about what we are seeing. That means, of course, we will be coming back next year! Tomorrow is backfill day, but maybe a light will turn on before we close up for the year.

August 19: Dig Day 3

Richard and Beth hard at work.

Jonathan working on his third unit.

Good evening everyone. I'm pleased to report that we did not have any vandalism last night! Between the Kingston Police and Ray Sr. (a.k.a, The Admiral) we may have scared them off. Our spirits were much higher this morning because of that.

So, we were able to get to work right away. Today we opened 5 more units, thus opening the largest continuous area ever. We couldn't have pulled this off if it weren't for the help of all the volunteers. We are still in search of the cellars and the Deetz excavation area. Even though we have this huge area open, nothing is looking definitive yet. However, something always turns up on the last day. One highlight of the day was the discovery of a Westerwald rim and body sherd. It showed up just as we were getting ready to call it a day. It was also great to see Jan again after a couple years. She was definitely missed. We've got a great crew this year. Hopefully tomorrow, on the last day of digging for this year, we will find what we're looking for.

Uncovering the Westerwald

August 18: Dig Day 2

Today's Damage


So once again, the day dawned with the discovery of vandalism at the Joseph site! Today's damage was more severe than yesterday. They kicked holes in our screens, stole our rakes, yanked a rock out of one of the test units, pulled up all our string, and stomped around on Ray and Marcia's midden (thankfully, nothing significant was broken). The police came out again and took another report. They promised to do what they can to track the thieves. Hopefully, that will work out, but we're coming to the conclusion that this is going to be a daily frustration. Errr!




Alex, Pamela, Marcia, and Ray excavating their units.


Dave and Sarah Cleaning Their Unit

After we repaired the screens and restrung all the units we were finally able to get to work. It was another hot one today, so everyone was chugging the water and taking lots of shade breaks. Two more squares were opened today and we had a few more workers to get cracking on them. Ray and Marcia moved to this new location and it wasn't long before they were turning up more artifacts, notably a large quantity of nails. The cellars did not turn up today either, but Sarah and Dave found more midden that was chock full of artifacts including redware bowl sherds, copper banding, an iron strip, pipe stems and bowls, and animal bone. They also found a buckle.

The buckle in situ with redware sherds and brick.

Although we have not been successful in finding the cellars yet, we hope that the work tomorrow will shed more light on where we are located in relation to the work done in the 60's. That, of course, is our ultimate goal. We have three days left, so we all are feeling positive that this can be accomplished. In the meantime, we will be keeping our eyes open for those dastardly vandals.

August 17: Dig Day 1

Today was the official beginning of the dig. We arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed at 8am to discover that some local kids had vandalized the site overnight. We had mistakenly left some of our equipment behind, namely saws and machetes, and they used them to chop down some of our precious shade trees and destroy the plastic sheeting we use to cover the units. Then they ran off with our machetes. Needless to say, this was extremely angering. However, the Kingston police were notified and they will be driving by frequently after hours. Hopefully, this is the last we will hear of the vandals.

Our poor shade!

We had a good sized crew today. Most of us were regulars, but we had a couple of new faces this year too. Welcome to Leslie and Melanie! Six units were opened today with the hope of tracking down those cellars. Two of the units seem promising at this point since there is a lack of cultural material and rocks in the soil. But, we will see. Ray and Marcia seem to have come across more of the midden from last year, so they found the bulk of the artifacts today including nails, wine bottle glass, a pewter button, ceramics, pipe bowls and stems as well as animal bone. Sarah found a piece of Westerwald ceramic in her unit. Jonathan claims the prize for best artifact of the day with his possible spoon knop (end of the handle).

Excavating the units

Ray and Marcia's Midden (its there, trust me)

Jonthan's Spoon Knop

Of course we ended up on the hottest week of the summer. For the sake of everyone's health, we decided to adjust our hours from 7:30 to 3:30. They are calling for temperatures past 90 tomorrow...sigh. Hopefully, we will find something cool to make up for our suffering.

Michael and Jesse The Destroyers!