Hello everyone!
My name is Kelsey Timmons and this is the first time I am appearing on the blog.
I spent most of the semester at the unit designated N. 87 E. 72 – otherwise known as the north buttress. Together with Michael, Nikki and Amara we uncovered several interesting finds including features – that is, immovable artifacts – nails, slip wear and one gigantic rock we named Nigel.
We have now uncovered the base, or corner stone, of the North Buttress. In actuality, it is a slapdash pile of rocks tightly wedged together atop what appears to be a cobbled path. “Not what we were expecting to find.” (Our current theme for the summer dig.) This prompted us to question if this corner was part of the problem with the re-occurring crack in the northeast corner of the original church. With the pile of rocks settling over time, more weight would have been added to the walls of the body of the church. The long crack in the wall could be a possible repercussion.
And, although I spent the semester at the north buttress, I have spent most of my time so far this summer outside the bell tower. Nothing we found there went according to plan either.
First we discovered that the sill under the doorframe extends less than half a foot. From then on it’s nothing but soil. Apparently, this is because originally these were not doors, but rather an open archway. This, along with the strange patterns we were finding in the soil, might answer one of the church’s drainage problems. The water is ebbing and flowing under the door until it is absorbed or drained further down. Normally that would be fine but a little under a foot and a half into the unit there appears to be a bed of clay – which doesn’t drain water. Instead it holds the water like a giant sponge. If there is too much water at any given time, you could be left with a puddle sitting on top. This seems to be the case for Old Swedes – but we will have to continue our work before any one can say anything with certainty.
Excavation at the Bell Tower
Continuing with our theme of “Not what I expected to see,” the bell tower unit has been producing evidence of Lenape presence around the site. We have found two projectile points and a handful of flakes. (Flakes are pieces chipped off of stone tools either in their creation or their upkeep.)
This week has been a productive one. We almost completed our two open units and we have several theories about the questions every one has been asking.