kenb
Bronze Member
I would love to dig a spot like this!
Archaeologists sift through ashes to uncover plantation's past
By MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON
Daily Press
May 18, 2007
GLOUCESTER, Va. -- Archaeologists digging inside the towering ruins of historic Rosewell Plantation have discovered a provocative assortment of artifacts hidden within the charred debris of the fire that gutted the structure in 1916.
Working in the northwest corner of the exposed basement, the scientists have probed through a jumbled deposit of fallen bricks, burned floor joists and twisted metal roofing that measures as much as 7 feet deep. The dig has uncovered the remains of at least three different stoves and an old metal bedstead--all of which came crashing through the floors of the three-story structure when the interior collapsed in the blaze.
It's also unearthed numerous fragments of enameled kitchen pans and cooking utensils--including a large cook's spoon--suggesting that at least one of the rooms above once served as the manor's kitchen.
"There is just tons of stuff in here," said archaeologist Thane Harpole, a partner in DATA Investigations Inc., which is conducting the dig as part of a $168,000 study designed to help preserve the colonial landmark.
"We have an ongoing bet about how many kitchen utensils we're going to find--and right now it looks like (archaeologist) Sarah (Heinsman) is going to be the winner. She said 40--and we've already found 10."
Constructed by wealthy Gloucester planter Mann Page and his son between 1725 and 1738, Rosewell originally rose from a massive 60-by-72-foot English basement and reached three stories into the air. Four giant chimneys marked its east and west walls, defining each of the main rooms in its palatial center-hall plan.
More than one observer in the late 18th century compared the magnificent dwelling to the governor's palace in Williamsburg. Present-day architectural historians regard Rosewell as one of the most important--and certainly one of the largest--mansions of the colonial period.
Most of the building's furnishings and the remains of its grand interior were lost, however, in a disastrous blaze that started in the southwest corner of the house sometime early on the morning of March 24, 1916.
"The family came in afterward and managed to save a few things. They kept the Abingdon church silver here. It melted a little but they were still able to restore it," Harpole said. "But the fire broke in the middle of the night--and most of what they had was destroyed."
When various sections of the walls collapsed in later years, the spilling bricks buried the ash and charcoal-filled debris still further. That's created a complicated sequence of events for the archaeologists to puzzle over as they sift through each new layer of evidence from the past.
Among the first artifacts to emerge were scattered beer bottles, a high-school ring from 1978 and a Sunday school pin from the 1940s or '50s--all clues to the many curious visitors who have been drawn by the isolated ruins in the modern era. Farther down under a thick layer of wall brick that fell during the 1940s, the archaeologists have recovered fragments of old wine bottles, the broken neck of a massive vessel known as a carboy and pieces of stoneware containers that date back as far as the 1820s.
The burn layer from 1916 lies approximately 3{ feet under the present-day surface, Harpole said. There the archaeologists have uncovered the flattened, heat-twisted parts of several cast-iron stoves and a metal bedstead as well as piece after piece of kitchenware and a growing number of cooking utensils.
"We've found metal colanders, an enamelware pan and buckets," Harpole said, shortly before recovering a kitchen spoon. "Metalware was really cheap at the beginning of the 20th century."
In addition to shedding light on Rosewell's 1916 interior, the archaeologists hope to turn up some surviving clue--such as an older door hinge or cabinet knob--that could provide new information about the house's poorly understood colonial woodwork.
They also hope to determine the past function of the cellar room, where the badly worn condition of the recently uncovered firebox suggests that this remote, out-of-sight fireplace was used often.
Once the 10-by-16-foot excavation space is cleared, structural engineers will examine sections of a corner wall and chimney base that haven't been exposed for more than 100 years.
"We have a lot of questions about how they were built. In the vaulted part of the basement--despite the massive scale of the brickwork here--the bottom of the wall goes straight down into the ground. There are no footers--no special preparations," Harpole said.
"If that's what happened here under this corner and massive chimney, it could have a big impact on what we do in the future in terms of preservation."
http://www.dailypress.com/news/loca...18,0,4807440.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia
kenb
Archaeologists sift through ashes to uncover plantation's past
By MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON
Daily Press
May 18, 2007
GLOUCESTER, Va. -- Archaeologists digging inside the towering ruins of historic Rosewell Plantation have discovered a provocative assortment of artifacts hidden within the charred debris of the fire that gutted the structure in 1916.
Working in the northwest corner of the exposed basement, the scientists have probed through a jumbled deposit of fallen bricks, burned floor joists and twisted metal roofing that measures as much as 7 feet deep. The dig has uncovered the remains of at least three different stoves and an old metal bedstead--all of which came crashing through the floors of the three-story structure when the interior collapsed in the blaze.
It's also unearthed numerous fragments of enameled kitchen pans and cooking utensils--including a large cook's spoon--suggesting that at least one of the rooms above once served as the manor's kitchen.
"There is just tons of stuff in here," said archaeologist Thane Harpole, a partner in DATA Investigations Inc., which is conducting the dig as part of a $168,000 study designed to help preserve the colonial landmark.
"We have an ongoing bet about how many kitchen utensils we're going to find--and right now it looks like (archaeologist) Sarah (Heinsman) is going to be the winner. She said 40--and we've already found 10."
Constructed by wealthy Gloucester planter Mann Page and his son between 1725 and 1738, Rosewell originally rose from a massive 60-by-72-foot English basement and reached three stories into the air. Four giant chimneys marked its east and west walls, defining each of the main rooms in its palatial center-hall plan.
More than one observer in the late 18th century compared the magnificent dwelling to the governor's palace in Williamsburg. Present-day architectural historians regard Rosewell as one of the most important--and certainly one of the largest--mansions of the colonial period.
Most of the building's furnishings and the remains of its grand interior were lost, however, in a disastrous blaze that started in the southwest corner of the house sometime early on the morning of March 24, 1916.
"The family came in afterward and managed to save a few things. They kept the Abingdon church silver here. It melted a little but they were still able to restore it," Harpole said. "But the fire broke in the middle of the night--and most of what they had was destroyed."
When various sections of the walls collapsed in later years, the spilling bricks buried the ash and charcoal-filled debris still further. That's created a complicated sequence of events for the archaeologists to puzzle over as they sift through each new layer of evidence from the past.
Among the first artifacts to emerge were scattered beer bottles, a high-school ring from 1978 and a Sunday school pin from the 1940s or '50s--all clues to the many curious visitors who have been drawn by the isolated ruins in the modern era. Farther down under a thick layer of wall brick that fell during the 1940s, the archaeologists have recovered fragments of old wine bottles, the broken neck of a massive vessel known as a carboy and pieces of stoneware containers that date back as far as the 1820s.
The burn layer from 1916 lies approximately 3{ feet under the present-day surface, Harpole said. There the archaeologists have uncovered the flattened, heat-twisted parts of several cast-iron stoves and a metal bedstead as well as piece after piece of kitchenware and a growing number of cooking utensils.
"We've found metal colanders, an enamelware pan and buckets," Harpole said, shortly before recovering a kitchen spoon. "Metalware was really cheap at the beginning of the 20th century."
In addition to shedding light on Rosewell's 1916 interior, the archaeologists hope to turn up some surviving clue--such as an older door hinge or cabinet knob--that could provide new information about the house's poorly understood colonial woodwork.
They also hope to determine the past function of the cellar room, where the badly worn condition of the recently uncovered firebox suggests that this remote, out-of-sight fireplace was used often.
Once the 10-by-16-foot excavation space is cleared, structural engineers will examine sections of a corner wall and chimney base that haven't been exposed for more than 100 years.
"We have a lot of questions about how they were built. In the vaulted part of the basement--despite the massive scale of the brickwork here--the bottom of the wall goes straight down into the ground. There are no footers--no special preparations," Harpole said.
"If that's what happened here under this corner and massive chimney, it could have a big impact on what we do in the future in terms of preservation."
http://www.dailypress.com/news/loca...18,0,4807440.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia
kenb
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
