On Sunday, May 1st, students in the “Introduction to Archaeology Field Methods” course will participate in the Old New Castle Courthouse First Sunday event from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. You can observe the excavation on the Water Lot in front of the George Read House and discuss findings with the students and Professor Lu Ann DeCunzo.

Internets sites for more information:

New Castle Courthouse – http://history.delaware.gov/museums/ncch/ncch_main.shtml

George Read House – http://www.hsd.org/read.htm

This week we were in the field again and several groups  closed their first test pits. Eleanor closed hers after finding little to no artifacts or changes in soil on Friday.  Mike found quite a few things and his hole was actually quite interesting. He found what looked to be stones not laid in a distinct pattern but definitely in a single layer and of large enough size to possibly be paving stones. Honestly though, we’re not sure what those are yet. Juli and Brielle found another feature in their pit although it is not very deep as they discovered when they did a core test. Marissa found several more interesting things in our hole while I worked on the transit including an animal tooth which I am not confident enough to yet positively identify although it looks like it’s something in the rodent family such as ground hog. She also found some more glass, ceramics, brick, and coal. She is three feet down and has yet to strike water. Clay also closed his pit after finding little to nothing on Friday except the water level, which he informed us is just over 3 feet down and marked by a distinct change from clay to ashy sand. The rest of us worked on reestablishing the grid, marking future test pits, and incorporating them into the grid system as well. We also had some people come interview us for UDaily. They wanted to know everything we could tell them about what we were doing and what we found; everyone was very helpful and informative. I don’t believe there were any real problems on Friday, other than the difficulties Mike had in digging over around and through is layer of large flat rocks, everyone made very good progress. Friday we hope to open some new pits and continue finding features and artifacts that will aid us in revealing the history of the Water Lot.

April 15th, our fourth day out in the field. By now, most of us already know the process of excavating STPs. Core samples were taken in some of the STPs in order to determine the start of the water table. Core samples are taken with a hollow pole that you twist into the ground to get a preview of the soil layers below the top layer. This provides us with an estimate of the number of layers left before the water table is reached as well as the distance before we reach the water table. Two of the STPs were cored; the test pit farthest from the Strand went straight into the water table. Marissa and Fallon worked on the S177.5 W0 test pit and found vessel and flat glass, brick, 19th century ceramics, a decorated pipe-stem fragment, and rusted nails. Leah and Caroline closed out their STP, which was at the back of the lot, closest to the Delaware River, when they hit the water table, only finding a few more pieces of brick. As other STPs were getting closer to the water table and stopped producing artifacts, other test pits were also closed up. The closing procedure includes photographing the end point and then covering the hole.
There is one test pit that has been unlike any of the other test pits and that is S152.5 E25. This STP has produced some interesting anomalies. Brielle was digging today and came across a feature that took up half of the STP. Chelsea and Chrissy photographed and excavated that feature in the afternoon. Preparing a feature involves cleaning it up so there is no lose dirt in the bottom of the STP as well as making sure the bottom of the pit is relatively level. Next, a trowel needs to point north, and a white board has all of the information like the location, the excavation, date. There were photographs taken in black and white, color, and on the digital camera. Everything had to be logged before the excavation could start. This is a lengthy process, there was only enough time for the feature to be excavated but no other levels were started. When excavating a feature, only half can be done at a time because it is important to get a profile of the stratigraphy of the feature. Chelsea and Chrissy found brick, shells, bones, coal, and various kinds of pottery. One of the pieces we were able to date to around 1820. This feature, unlike the surrounding soil levels that mostly produced brick and clinker, contained several artifacts.
Most of the test pits excavated produced brick, clinker, some iron, pieces of pottery, and some glass.  I am excited to get back in the field and discover what else lies beneath the water lot in New Castle.

The 3rd day out in the field, March 25th, was exciting for both the morning and the afternoon groups! The morning group had their first day actually digging in the STPs and they were very excited to get their hands dirty. As for the afternoon group, some pretty spectacular finds were unearthed that caught everyone’s attention. Our efforts over the past few weeks are starting to pay dividends as we can now see notable progress. Most of the STPs are 1 to 2 feet deep at this point and a couple soil changes have been noted. These are consistent with the other STPs.
The morning group worked on some of the existing STPs in addition to opening up some new ones. Fallon and Marissa were one of the pairs that started fresh, they found that the soil layers changed noticeably, and worked all the way down to the fourth level! They uncovered artifacts from every category and noted that the consistency in which they found some of the artifacts, such as coal and clinker led them to question whether or not there was a building on the property at some point.
Continuing off of the morning group’s progress, the afternoon group went straight to work. We broke up into pairs and were each assigned to a hole, with one group rotating to help Dr. De Cunzo with the transit. This time we were measuring the distance between STPs, but nonetheless it was still very difficult and nearly impossible to get them to match up. It was definitely a rewarding experience however, bringing to light yet again how important it is to accurately map out our site.
Friday’s excavation yielded some pretty marvelous finds! Starting with Darcy and Rebecca who found a piece of feather-edged pottery, which was white with blue decoration. It is most likely from the mid-19th century! Excavated from the STP which I was working on was a tiny red toy plane! It is believed to be made of lead and most likely from the mid 1900s. The plane had the word Japan written on it very small letters. The first feature of the site was found by Kate and Colleen! This was recorded in multiple pictures. As they dug into the feature they found that deeper and deeper the feature turned into two smaller, separate holes. In one of them they found a ton of objects; coal, glass, ceramics, and sea shell.
I think it is easy to say that we had a pretty successful day! It was interesting to see the soil layers start to match up throughout the STPs, and the artifacts corresponding to the soil layers. I can’t wait to see what we’ll uncover next!

Our second day in the field, March 18^th, was another great learning experience for everyone. The weather was beautiful, considering the chill that we experienced a few weeks ago.  Everyone was very excited to get back into the field after a day of learning how to correctly clean and label artifacts the week before, and we were not disappointed with the various projects and jobs we worked on.

We were joined by Peter Leach of John Milner Associates, who introduced us firsthand to Ground Penetrating Radar. While we did read up on the process in preparation for Friday’s fieldwork, many of us had never seen or used GPR firsthand. Emily, Marissa, Ashley and Elanor of the morning group helped Peter to lay out the survey grid of the North and Water Lots. Both groups were able to use the GPR unit to view the different features of the Water and North Lots. We were able to identify the drop off of the original 1800s era shoreline as well as what may be the foundations of a stone building, if the GPR survey matches with the various property and insurance maps that we have found in our research of the Read House properties. The afternoon group found the GPR system to be absolutely fascinating. While the afternoon group was viewing the North Lot, an older woman who lives on the property behind the North Lot stopped by to say hello and inquire about our project. We were more than happy to share our observations with her. This is just one example of the various ways that we are able to engage the community in our project and historical preservation. The GPR surveys were definitely one of the highlights of the semester thus far. After we finished working with the GPR unit, we were able to go to the roof of the Read House and see the properties and Historic New Castle from a new perspective. Friday was a perfect day for this and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

The morning group worked in setting up the transit in the Garden of the Read House. As I myself experienced on our first day in the field, they found that our transit is not the easiest to work with. However, it did pique an interest in a few people to read up more on transits in order to better understand why we use them in our work. Later that afternoon, Chrissy and Christine also worked to level the transit, which they also found frustrating. However, we all look at our frustrating experiences as good learning experiences.

In addition to this, Andrea worked with Fallon in the morning and Rebecca and Leah in the afternoon to map and sketch the brick wall of the front of the North Lot that faces the Strand. They took measurements of the wall and mapped its outline while taking scale sketches of the wall’s profile. We are considering creating a visual map that shows the wall via pictures as well as a second, basic drawing of the wall, perhaps with a color coding system of some sort to make interpretations of the different layers and additions easier to future researchers.

Of course, everyone was ecstatic to dig. Of the afternoon group, Chelsea and Mickey, Kate and Darcy, and Caroline and I worked on excavating more of the three test pits that were started in the Water Lot on March 4^th. Kate and Darcy had to even out the bottom surface of their pit before continuing through level 2 of their pit. Around 5.5 inches deep, they noticed their soil was beginning to change color and so stopped, made notes and measurements and closed out their layer before bringing the soil to be sifted. While sifting, they found mostly rocks and coal pieces, but did find a type of battery core. They placed it in a labeled artifact bag before packing up for the day. Caroline and I had our first digging experience with our test pit. We also evened out our test pit before measuring the depth and beginning our excavation. We closed our level at around .6 feet and took our soil to be sifted. We found a metal tack, a metal nail, pieces of brick and coal. We also uncovered what we believe is the top of a brick, but did not have time to completely uncover it before the day was finished.

All in all, everyone is having an amazing time working on the excavation project and I for one am looking forward to this coming Friday to do more work on the project.

During our first week of research, students experienced many challenges in searching for and locating primary source information on the first owners of the North and Water lots.  While many repositories contain land records for New Castle County on the 17^th and 18^th centuries, their organization and formatting makes finding information somewhat difficult, especially for those unfamiliar with the historical research process.  Knowing where to begin the search for information also proved frustrating for many students.  At the end of the week, however, each group had uncovered important clues to the history of the sites and their owners, as well as devised a number of questions for future research.

For the earliest period of our sites, 1650-1680, students were unable to find specific documentation of ownership, or other land record relating to the property.  They did, however, find helpful information on the beginnings of the New Castle County community.  This information traced the town’s origins through Dutch, Swedish and English ownership, detailing how land was granted, and what types of structures early settlers built near the river.  While some sources report that those settling along Front Street would have had an unobstructed view of the water, it is unclear if the bank lots were truly vacant at this time.  All that is certain is that they were not officially granted to settlers before the 1680s.  On the opposite side of the Strand, Penn began to assign plots in 1701 … on condition that within seven years … a good wrarg (?) on (the) plot would meanwhile improve the land.” Eckman (1947b).  Thus, most of the English and Welsh who settled in the area came “not so much to settle in the village as to take up land along the river and bay” (p 13). Dutch missionaries Dankers and Sluyter wrote about New Castle in 1679, “Most of the English, and many others, have their houses made of nothing but clapboards, … not usually laid so close together as to prevent you from sticking a finger between them. … When is cold and windy the best people plaster them with clay.”

The students focusing on the period from 1680 to 1730 selected the Water Lot as their primary target for initial research. While documentation was present for the owners of the Water Lot during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries, primary sources were difficult to locate and decipher.  In addition, the same individuals listed as owning the property were involved in many transactions from the late 1600’s to the early 1700’s, and their names show up on multiple deeds.  While this might be helpful in indicating something of their economic status, and/or the size of the Water Lot during this period, it made it hard to tell if the tracts of land discussed in the documents were the ones in which we were interested.  The most relevant source found was a document indicating a period transaction between the French and Donaldson families in the New Castle County Deeds Records.

From the period of 1720 to 1770, few documents were located that were immediately legible.  In the Orphan’s Court Records, for instance,  David French’s name appears during the correct time period.  This requires further research in order to gauge the importance of the information.  John Finney appears in the  New Castle County Deed Records multiple times within the time frame 1734-1771, but none of the grantee names fit with our preliminary chain of title.  Again, further research is required in order to tell whether the “correct” information is yet to be located, or if our chain of title is flawed.

Research on the early period of the North and Water Lots concluded with a group of students looking for information on the sites from  1760 to 1790 .  The Delaware Historical Society’s online archive as well as the Delaware Public Archives proved helpful in this effort.  Students were able to find information regarding the Maxwell family, of whom George and Gertrude Read I were tenants.   Students found documentation listing Joseph Tatlow as an esquire on Ancestrylibrary.com, and that Thomas Clark’s full name was actually Thomas Clark Janvier.  This might help in future research.  Unfortunately, there was little to no information recovered on Clark or William Aull and there is still some ambiguity pertaining to the dates in which the North Lot property went from Joseph Tatlow to Aull.

Recurrent Challenges:

During the first week of intense research on the North and Water Lots, each group experienced a number of challenges.  For many of us, these roadblocks included deciphering 17^th and 18^th century handwriting, using microfilm, and the seemingly nonsensical organization of period records.  In addition, vocabulary seemed to pose several questions when interpreting the documents we were able to locate.

Lessons Learned for Future Research:

1. Constantly review all readily available information.  You do not have to reinvent the wheel!
2. Eckman and other early researchers produced work that is very useful.  However, in some cases, newer, more accurate data is available.  Always review your sources.
3. When searching through record books on microfilm, begin with the indices reel in order to save time and effort.
4. Some sources may not be appropriate for certain time frames. For example, newspapers and Orphan’s Court Records for the late 17^th and 18^th centuries yielded no useful information.  Keep relevant dates in mind.
5. Look for information on family members of persons of interest if an initial search fails to turn up any information.

Special Notes:

On Special Collections at the University of Delaware’s Morris Library: The collections give little information about Dr. John Finney, Thomas Clark, Joseph Tatlow, William Aull, or George Read I pertaining to their late 18^th century land holdings on the North and Water Lot sites.  One book regarding these owners is currently missing.

On Dr. John Finney:  M.Film s334 Reel 2 and Reel 7 contains deeds that may be informative.

The afternoon (1-4pm) group’s first day in the field was exciting and fruitful. The opportunity to finally practice what we’ve learned in the classroom over the years to benefit and enrich Old New Castle’s ‘story’ is an honor. The morning group did an excellent job of preparing and setting-up for the work our archaeologists did. They set up the equipment, completed site photography, and began site mapping.

We met with De Cunzo and had a short briefing on the day’s plan, goals, and the progress, and frustrations, of our historical research. The first group wrapped-up with almost all the site mapping done except for the East North Lot. Myself and three other early-bird arrivals completed the mapping of site with that final area. Andrea supervised while the rest of us took turns mapping and measuring. One of us was mapping in site features while the other two used measuring tapes to take precise measurements of the features. The many trees in this area made precise measuring difficult; it was hard to get a straight level measuring line with branches in the way of the tape, but we did our best.

While we were finishing up the site mapping another group was again working with the transit to make sure the site grid was accurate and so we could begin working with the shovel test-pits. Apparently this was a trying task and getting the transit to be level was difficult. The third group was split up into pairs that began laying out the shovel test-pits or beginning to excavate previously existing ones from the morning group. All the shovel test pits and excavations we began were on the water lot. When our group finished mapping we joined those beginning to excavate the shovel test pits and screening the dirt. The top-soil sod layer proved to be the most difficult, it was hard to screen and we had to be very careful not to miss any artifacts that might be tangled in the roots. During the screening the team already had one local approach with his dog to check out our progress and give some encouragement to the group and the project. That was really nice to know the community’s supportive of the project and is already interested in our work and New Castle’s story. Two of the excavating pairs found artifacts in the second level of soil. Myself and Chelsea found a few tiny pieces of brick and a tiny piece of glass, and I believe brick was also discovered in the other pair’s excavated soil. The artifacts were bagged and properly labeled and taken back to the lab to be cleaned and processed the following Friday.

The end of the first field day felt great. Collectively our team accomplished a lot and now we’re really ready to ‘dig-in’ for this coming field day. I, personally, remember the smell of dirt as I was heading home and really feeling excited about the project. It’ll be a wonderful journey to see what tales Old New Castle has buried beneath its surface.