2011 Dig Dates

The 2011 excavation will be taking place August 15-19.

We will continue to excavate on the Joseph property to follow up with what was discovered at the end of last season.

Excavation Extended!

Due to some exciting finds this past August, we've decided to return to Rocky Nook in 2011! Stay tuned for more information and the upcoming dates.

Rocky Nook Excavation 2010

It's almost time for this year's season at Rocky Nook! The dates for the excavation this year are August 16-20th. We will continue to investigate the large area that was opened last year with the hopes of connecting our work with the excavations in the 1960s.

As of now, the 2010 season will be our last year at Rocky Nook.

Archaeology is a destructive science and once we dig things up, we can never put them back the way they were. It is extremely important to leave areas of a site untouched so archaeologists will be able to continue research using new techniques or technology in the future. Our goal for Rocky Nook is save parts of it for future Howland descendents to investigate. They will no doubt learn new things about the life of John Howland and his family at the Rocky Nook Homestead that we would not be able to discern at this time.

We've uncovered hundreds of artifacts that require storage and conservation. They provide data about this period and will be made accessible for research. Also, several of these items will eventually be on display at the Jabez Howland House in Plymouth. The work performed over the last decade at Rocky Nook by archaeologists and volunteers has been invaluable not only for understanding the day to day life of the Howland family but also for understanding the lives of the early colonists on the coast of Massachusetts.

We are looking forward to what this year holds and for reuniting with all those that have participated in this project through the years. We are excited to have some new faces this year too! As always, daily updates on our progress will be posted on the blog during the project week.

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.