Exploratory Archeological Excavations at the
Bethabara Mill Complex
(31 Fy 7 ** 22) and Bethabara Tannery (31 Fy 7 ** 23)
by
Aaron E. Russell
Historic Bethabara Park
August 1998
Table of Contents
The author would like to thank a number of persons whose contributions were essential to the successful completion of this project. The crew, which at various times during the project’s duration included Thaddeus Bissett, Roger Kirchen, Craig Taylor, Joseph Sauer, and Alex Furches, worked long and hard hours through heat, rain, mosquitoes, and the occasionally bad temper of the field director. Rodney Meyer and James Burke of Historic Bethabara both contributed historical research and valuable observations throughout the project. John Clauser and Stephen Claggett of the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology each provided helpful observations and suggestions both prior to and during the investigation. Kathleen Kron of the Wake Forest Department of Biology identified botanical materials from the tannery site. Finally, Ned Woodall of the Wake Forest Department of Anthropology provided aid, advice, and moral support throughout the project. My thanks to all of these people.
During May and June of 1998, exploratory excavations were carried out at the sites of the Bethabara Mill Complex (31 Fy 7 ** 22) and the Bethabara Tannery (31 Fy 7 ** 23) at Historic Bethabara Park, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Bethabara, which was the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina, was initially settled in 1753, and is currently the site of an historical park. The research was directed by Aaron Russell, a graduate student in the department of anthropology at Wake Forest University, in the capacity of a city employee. Crew members at various times during the investigation included Thaddeus Bissett, Roger Kirchen, Craig Taylor, Joseph Sauer, and Alex Furches.
The goals of the research were to locate existing structures at these sites, attempt to determine their extent and form, correlate archeological evidence recovered with colonial maps and other historical records pertaining to the sites, evaluate the findings of previous archeological research at these sites, and to assess the archeological resources present in these areas with regard to their potential for productive archeological research in the future.
The investigations at the Bethabara Mill Complex were focused on a specific portion of this fairly large area, which was the site of a row of log cabins which housed refugees during the French and Indian War. This group of houses served as the north wall of a stockade surrounding the Bethabara Mill. The investigation of this site consisted of the excavation of five 2m X 2m excavation units, and one 1.5m X 1m excavation unit, which were placed in relation to features uncovered as excavation proceeded. The investigation of the tannery site involved the excavation of an 8m X 1.5m trench, which it was hoped would intersect linear features such as buried walls in the area.
All artifacts recovered during the 1998 excavations at the Mill Complex and Tannery sites, as well as all notes, photographs, and maps produced in the course of this project, are being curated by Historic Bethabara Park.
Bethabara Mill Complex (31 FY 7 ** 22)
The history of the Bethabara mill complex and refugee cabins has been discussed in some detail by R. Jackson Marshall (Willis and Marshall 1988:22-43), and only a gross outline of this history is presented here. The Bethabara mill was built in 1755-56 along Johanna Creek (currently known as Mill Creek), close to the main Bethabara settlement, and was used to process grain, saw lumber, crush oak bark for the Bethabara tannery, and press flax seeds for linseed oil (Willis and Marshall 1988:25-27). The "old mill" is mentioned in land deeds dating up to 1866, but it is doubtful that the mill was in operation at this time (Willis and Marshall 1988:55). Operations at the mill had slowed in 1772, when a mill was built in Salem, and again in 1783 when another mill was put into operation in nearby Bethania (Willis and Marshall 1988:55). The Mill had fallen into disrepair by 1805, and was sold by the Moravians to Caspar Stoltz in 1814 (Willis and Marshall 1988:55).
During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Bethabara served as a regional "strong point" in the western piedmont, and was used periodically as a place of refuge from violence by surrounding settlers. In 1758, a decision as made to fortify the Bethabara mill, and it was surrounded by a palisade, apparently built of boards. A row of "eight small log houses" (Fries I 1968:188) formed the north wall of this large enclosure, immediately south of the road from the mill to Bethabara. The main occupation of these structures is reported to have dated to between 1758 (when they were built), and 1761 (the year in which the Cherokee, having turned against their British allies, were defeated; Lee 1963:88-89). During May of 1759, it was reported that "the cabins at the mill shelter three or four families apiece, and altogether there are about 120 souls there" (Fries I 1968:210).
Although the refugee cabins were reportedly torn down in November 1765, and the best logs used for building a stable (Fries I 1968:306), the Wachovia diary entry for November 7, 1769 states that "the cabins at the mill" were repaired for the (probably temporary) use of three families who had recently immigrated from Broad Bay, Maine (Fries I 1968:393). The precise date at which the cabins were torn down, therefore, is somewhat unclear.
Extant maps dating to the mill stockade’s existence appear to show two larger structures, one on each end of the row of cabins. These have been postulated to have been "fortified blockhouses" (Willis and Marshall 1988:32-33). One possible line of support for this interpretation is that on October 20, 1766 the Brethren decided to "take down the blockhouse by the mill, and bring it here [to Bethabara] and put it up for a kitchen, between the [Congregation] store and the carpenter shop" (Fries I 1968:335). The precise date at which the mill stockade fence was dismantled is unknown, although Willis (Willis and Marshall 1988:39-39) speculates that it was removed during the mid 1760s.
It should be noted at this point that there are no known drawings of the mill stockade and refugee cabins, and that the several period maps showing these features are drawn at a small scale and lacking in detail. Furthermore, there are several discrepancies in the historical record concerning the actual number of cabins erected for refugees at the mill, as well as their relationship to the board palisade. The Bethabara Diary entry of April 14, 1758 states that:
The Brethren have been raising eight small houses at the mill. These form the front wall of the stockade which on the other sides will be made of boards. As soon as these are finished some of the refugees will move thither (Fries I 1968:188).
Bishop Spangenberg, who spent the period between the summers of 1759 and 1760 in Wachovia (Willis and Marshall 1988:34-38), described the refugee cabin complex as follows:
The mill is a fairly large, three-story, house. Not only the Brethren but also their neighbors store their grain there. Ten one-story houses stand near by, in a row, built by the Brethren, or at their expense. The houses are full of refugees; a strong, high, board fence makes an enclosure for their defense (Fries II 1968:540).
It is not clear from historical records, therefore, how many refugee cabins were actually constructed at the mill, and whether they formed the North wall of the mill enclosure or were enclosed by the board palisade.
Due both to the discrepancies mentioned above, as well as the shortage of documentary material relating to the refugee cabins, predictions of the nature of the archeological materials to be found in this area were somewhat vague. It was expected, however, that the hurried nature of the construction of these houses (which may have involved minimal foundations), and the short duration of recorded occupation of them, would have resulted in vague patterning of features and low artifact counts. Excavation in the area (described below) proved these expectations to be wrong.
Archeological Investigation of the Refugee Cabin Location
In the summer of 1987 limited archeological testing (in the form of a 50 X 50 cm. shovel test) was performed on the area investigated for this report, as part of an archeological survey in advance of the planned construction of the Bethabara Bypass (Bethabara Park Blvd.) and is reported on in Willis and Marshall (1988). Working from several period maps, particularly the "2000 Acker" map, attributed to Reuter (undated), Willis (Willis and Marshall 1988:55-57) created a base map (Willis and Marshall 1988:55) which presented a rough correlation of the former outline of the mill, stockade, refugee cabins, and surrounding structures with current topography.
As noted above, the maps from which the mill fortification outlines were drawn were drawn at a small scale by Reuter, and these projected outlines should accordingly be regarded as approximate. In addition, there is a discrepancy in the orientation of magnetic north between Willis’ projection and both the "2000 acker" map (shown in Willis and Marshall 1988:4) and the ca. 1761 map "Bethabara in Wachovia." In these period maps, the long axis of the row of refugee cabins is shown as oriented almost due east/west (although there is some slight variation between the two maps). An enlargement of the mill complex as represented on a ca. 1758 map of Bethabara, presented in Snavely (1985:27), also shows the cabin row oriented east/west. In Willis’ projection, however, the cabin row is drawn with its long axis at a definite NW/SE angle. The most likely explanation for this discrepancy is that Willis extrapolated the orientation of the mill stockade from the alignment of the remains of the mill structure and dam (Willis and Marshall 1988:59-63), although Willis does not explicitly state that this was done. One of the goals of this excavation was to evaluate Willis’ projection via "ground truthing" the location and orientation of the remains of the refugee cabins.
The area thought to be the location of the refugee cabins is a raised area of land slightly above the flood plain of Mill Creek, oriented parallel to the hill face, immediately south of the visible bed of the former road from the mill to Bethabara. The single survey transect test pit placed on this elevated area in 1987 produced "six Moravian brown glazed ceramic sherds, one hand-wrought iron nail, and several brick fragments. These materials came from the top 50-60cm of dark brown loamy silt overlying a red/brown clayey subsoil" (Willis and Marshall 1988:57).
During the current investigation of the Mill Complex site, the position of the former road from the mill to Bethabara was noted to be a short distance to the south of the position in which it is shown on Willis’ base map. Since the position of this road relative to the refugee cabins is likely to be of importance for future research at this site, this discrepancy is documented here.
At the outset of this project, it was decided that initial excavation of the projected refugee cabin location would consist of a 2m X 2m excavation unit placed above the projected location of the 1987 shovel test C-TR-S1-T1. This decision was made in order to minimize damage to the site, and to focus excavation in a location which had previously tested positively for historical cultural materials. The location of shovel test C-TR-S1-T1 was computed as lying at N 1037.7122 / E 1027.8598 on the spatial grid established at the mill complex site in 1987 (all grid coordinates in both Willis and Marshall [1988] and this report are given in meters North and East of the same arbitrary point).
Following this calculation, an attempt was made to re-establish the mill site grid on the basis of two permanent grid markers placed on the site in 1987 by Willis (at N 1010 / E 1000 and N 1040 / E 1000), which were reported to consist of four-foot sections of galvanized pipe driven 2 to 3 feet into the ground, with cement poured around their bases (Willis and Marshall 1988:57). An inspection of the area resulted in the location of the N 1040 / E 1000 grid marker, but the N 1010 / E 1000 marker was not located. Although it was postulated that the marker had been buried by alluvium deposited by the frequent flooding of Mill Creek and/or bent over, a subsequent metal-detector survey of the area by park employees also failed to locate the grid marker. In the absence of the N 1010 / E 1000 grid marker, a site grid was established based on magnetic north and the N 1040 / E 1000 grid marker, since the 1987 site grid had been aligned with magnetic north (Willis and Marshall 1988:57). An E/W base line was placed using a transit from N 1040 / E 1000 to N 1040 / E 1029, and an initial 2m X 2m excavation unit (EU M1) was placed with its SW corner at N 1037 / E 1027, in order to encompass the projected location of 1987 shovel test C-TR-S1-T1.
Excavation of the site was done using natural stratigraphy. With the exception of surface vegetation and root mat, which were not screened, all excavated soil was hand-screened through ¼" hardware cloth. A total of five 2m X 2m excavation units (EU’s M1, M2, M3, M4, and M6) and one 1m X 1.5m excavation unit (EU M5) were hand-excavated during the course of the fieldwork. Following excavation of EU M1, intended to locate the 1987 shovel test, additional EU’s were placed in relationship to features observed as excavation progressed. EU M2 was placed so as to include a large stone which projected above the present ground surface.
Excavation of the 5 EU’s at the mill complex site revealed multiple features, some probably associated with the 18th-century refugee cabins, as well as cultural strata which have been disturbed to some degree by extensive root activity on the site, but are otherwise intact. Following excavation, a map was drawn of all features visible at the base of excavations, and soil profiles were drawn. Due to the limited time and budget available for this project, these features were not excavated, with the exception of a small amount of fill removed from feature 1 (described below) in an attempt to define its extent.
Identification of the artifacts recovered was assisted through the use of the following basic sources: Noel Hume (1991 [1969]) for imported ceramics, and Bivins (1972), Clauser (1978), and South (1972) for Moravian ceramics. Artifacts recovered included a large number of Moravian earthenware sherds, a very small quantity of imported mid 18th century ceramics (including several small sherds of Jackfield ware, agateware, and possibly Whieldon clouded ware), a small quantity of badly-decayed bone, several metal buttons, an iron knife blade, a heavily-reworked French gunflint, and a small quantity of wrought iron nails.
A small amount of late 18th, 19th, and 20th century material was recovered during the excavation, including several machine-cut iron nails, one (possibly worked) coal fragment, modern glass, and two sherds of a highly-fired white-bodied earthenware (possibly pearlware, but with a very hard paste). While the 20th century artifacts were present as a light scatter on and just beneath the ground surface, a small number of the late 18th and 19th century artifacts were found deeper in the soil profile, within the main artifact-bearing strata. These artifacts may be attributable to continued, historically-undocumented use of the refugee cabin area, and may also have been transported downward through the soil profile via various site disturbance processes such as bioturbation. At present, the origin of these artifacts is unknown.
In addition to the artifacts mentioned above, a small number of prehistoric artifacts, including several stone tools, pottery sherds, and quartz and felsite debitage, were recovered during excavation. These prehistoric artifacts were found throughout the A horizon, rather than within a distinct stratigraphic unit. The stratigraphic association of prehistoric and historic artifacts at this site may constitute evidence of the site disturbance processes suggested above. A small number of flakes and broken fragments of a coarse-grained igneous rock were also recovered during excavation, and may be a result of the dressing of structural stones. A complete catalog of all artifacts recovered, by excavation unit and stratigraphic unit, is located in an appendix to this report.
Although the limited scope of work and budget for this project prevented any detailed analysis of the large number of ceramic sherds recovered during the excavation (such as via a program of cross-mending and/or other methods of establishing vessel forms and counts), and Moravian ceramics in general are not considered to be effective temporal indicators due to long persistence of ware types, several Moravian ceramic artifacts recovered from the site were observed to be consistent with a mid-18th century date. These include two bisque stove tile fragments which appear to be of the "paneled" pattern (Bivins 1972:185), two fragments of the base of a small beaker decorated with green copper glaze, and two clay pipe fragments appearing to be of the "unglazed anthropomorphic rococo" pattern illustrated in South [1972:facing 118], although the portion with the face is missing in both fragments. All of these forms are associated with the Gottfried Aust pottery at Bethabara, between the years of 1755 and 1773 (Bivins 1972; South 1972), although Bivins (1972:179) cautions that Aust’s early stove tile molds were still being used, in addition to more recent designs, as late as 1800. Future research at the refugee cabin location should incorporate the finds of the present study in establishing vessel counts and forms recovered from this site, and in order to better understand patterns of artifact deposition and other formation processes which may be evident at this site.
Soil profiles encountered in the course of the excavation were fairly simple, consisting for the most part of a dark brown, loamy, highly organic A horizon which graded subtly and gradually into a B horizon of lighter brown clay. In EU’s M4 and M5, this soil profile was capped by a layer of redeposited clay subsoil. On the southern slope of the low rise investigated (in EU M6), the A horizon was quite thin, probably due to continual downslope erosion. This general soil profile is probably the result of the in situ weathering of bedrock, combined with the gradual accumulation of colluvium and forest litter on the low rise investigated. Within this soil profile, divisions between excavated levels within EU’s were generally made on the somewhat subjective basis of increasing clay content and subsoil mottling in the soils encountered. As such, they do not necessarily reflect distinct depositional episodes (with the exception of modern trash discovered on or near the ground surface, and the redeposited subsoil noted above), and should probably be regarded as to some degree artificial. No direct evidence of disturbance of the site by plowing, such as visible plow scarring of the subsoil, was revealed during the excavations. Shallow plowing (such as by a mule-drawn plow), however, cannot be ruled out, especially in light of the presence of aboriginal artifacts high in the soil profile. Natural disturbances were evident in the form of extensive tree root activity throughout the excavated area, as well as a small amount of rodent burrowing which was seen in the south wall of EU M3 as the excavation progressed.
Following excavation, units were partially backfilled with sand and topped with excavated soil, in order to both facilitate re-excavation in the future and minimize erosion.
A description of soils and features uncovered in each EU follows:
EU M1:
Soils in EU M1 consisted of a layer of forest litter, vegetation, and root mat in dark brown, organic soil (FS 1), which was not screened, and from which no artifacts were recovered. Underlying FS 1 was a 10 to 20cm-thick layer of dark brown silty loam (FS 2) containing brick and charcoal flecking. Artifacts recovered from FS 2 include Moravian ceramics, two small sherds of Jackfield ware, wrought nails, a cut nail, a pewter button, and a small iron buckle fragment. A small amount of modern bottle and light bulb glass was also recovered from FS 2. Two prehistoric artifacts, a trianglular felsite point (type Carraway) and a felsite flake, were recovered from FS 2. Several small pieces of redeposited subsoil were visible within FS 2 in a localized area near the center of the unit. Near the base of FS 2, localized and amorphous areas of increased soil compaction were noticeable when trowelling. This soil had a slightly darker and more "mottled" or mixed appearance than the surrounding matrix. Several small, sandy inclusions were noticed when trowelling in these compacted areas. Several artifacts at this general level were noticed to be lying flat, as if on a former surface, but this was not invariably the case across the unit or definitely associated with the areas of soil compaction. These artifacts were too few in number to help define a feature or former ground surface. Most of this compact, dark, mottled soil was located in the northeastern quadrant of the unit, although small areas of it were noticed elsewhere within EU M1. In general, this compacted soil had the appearance of a trampled, disturbed midden accumulation. Efforts to define this soil as a distinct horizon occupying a particular depth across the entire unit were unsuccessful, as isolated "patches" of it would be encountered at differing depths (most were noticed between 15 and 20cm below the ground surface). This soil type was also not clearly visible in the unit wall profiles. Underlying FS 2 was an approximately 20cm-thick layer of brown clayey loam mottled with subsoil (FS 3), containing some brick and charcoal flecks. Small patches of the compacted soil noted above were evident within the upper portion of FS 3. Subsoil mottling increased gradually towards the base of FS 3, and almost all artifacts recovered from FS 3 came from the upper 10cm of this level. Artifacts recovered from FS 3 include Moravian ceramics, a Moravian kaolin pipe fragment, and a quartz flake. Excavation in EU M1 was halted at ca. 40cm below ground surface. The floor of the unit at this point consisted of sterile clay subsoil mottled with brown loam.
Upon completion of the excavation of EU M1, several probable features were visible in the unit floor and/or profiles. The first of these (designated "feature 1") consisted of an amorphous dark soil stain in the southeast corner of the unit, measuring approximately 40cm E/W at its widest point and 45cm from its northern extent to the point at which it intersected the south wall of EU M1, and containing several stones. Feature 1 was visible in the south wall profile, extending upwards from the base of excavation for a short distance before becoming indistinguishable from the surrounding soil matrix. A small amount of soil was removed from this feature, in an attempt to define its horizontal extent, and a single Moravian ceramic sherd, along with an unidentifiable, eroded earthenware sherd, were recovered during this excavation. This feature was otherwise unexcavated. Several crew members and visitors to the site remarked on the similarity between the surface appearance of this feature and several excavated at the 1754 sleeping hall site (Idol et. al. 1996), which consisted of shallow, irregular holes containing small to medium sized stones, and were thought to possibly represent the remains of architectural sill supports. At the present time, however, the past function, if any, of feature 1 is unknown since it has no particularly diagnostic form and has not been completely excavated.
A small, irregular dark stain, measuring approximately 19cm N/S by 27cm E/W ("feature 2") was located near the center of EU M1 at the base of excavation. A fragment of bone is visible on its surface. In surface appearance, feature 2 resembles either a post-mold, or a small post-hole such as would be made with a modern post-hole digger. The presence (noted above) of pieces of redeposited subsoil just below the sod in the same area of the unit as feature 2 adds support to the idea that this feature is likely of modern origin, although this is by no means certain.
An area of dark, loose soil was clearly visible in the south profile of EU M1, visibly extending vertically from the base of the excavation to just below the sod. This stain is approximately 50cm wide near the ground surface, narrowing to 30cm near the base of the excavation. A small portion of this soil stain is also visible in the unit floor. This feature was not given a number. Given the form of this feature, and the very loose nature of the fill evident in the unit profile, it is probably the 1987 shovel test C-TR-S1-T1 sought when positioning EU M1, located approximately 1m south of its expected position.
EU M2
In general, the soil profile in EU M2 was very similar to that encountered in EU M1, consisting of an unscreened layer of vegetation (FS1), overlying an approximately 20cm-thick layer of highly organic, silty loam (FS2) containing some brick and charcoal flecks. Through a mistake made in the field, artifacts from FS’s 1 and 2 were combined in the same bag. Artifacts from FS 1 & 2 include Moravian ceramics, a Moravian stove tile fragment, and wrought nails. Modern artifacts were present in FS 1 & 2, consisting of a length of light-gauge metal chain and a cigarette filter. A highly fired, possibly pearlware, cup handle and a coal fragment which appeared to have been worked were also present. Two prehistoric fabric-impressed ceramic sherds were also present in FS 1 & 2, as were several quartz flakes. Underlying FS 2 was an approximately 10cm-thick layer of brown clayey loam mottled with a small amount of clay subsoil (FS 3), containing brick and charcoal flecks. At ca. 22cm below ground surface, just below the upper surface of FS 3, a scatter of Moravian earthenware sherds was uncovered in the southern half of the unit. These artifacts appeared to be lying flat on an ill-defined area of the same compact, mottled dark soil seen in EU M1. Artifacts from FS 3 include a large quantity of Moravian ceramic sherds, a possible sherd of Whieldon clouded ware, a Moravian pipe bowl fragment, two metal buttons, and an iron knife blade, as well as two prehistoric stone flakes and a heat-altered quartzite cobble. In an attempt to quantify decreasing artifact density below ca. 30cm b.s. (as had been seen in EU M1), soil below this point was excavated as FS 4. FS 4 consisted of approximately 10cm of mixed clay subsoil and brown loam, with increasing subsoil content towards the base of the level. As expected, artifact content dropped off dramatically from FS 3 to FS 4, with FS 4 containing one Moravian ceramic sherd, two quartz flakes, and a small amount of charcoal.
During the course of excavation of EU M2, a number of possible features were noted. The first of these (feature 3) is a group of large stones interspersed with smaller stones, which appear to have been intentionally laid, located along the western wall of the unit. Several of these stones appear to have been minimally dressed. The largest of these stones (in the northwest corner of feature 3), was first noticed projecting slightly above the ground surface. Upon excavation of a few centimeters of soil (FS 1), the tops of a number of other stones became apparent. A smaller stone along the eastern, upper edge of the feature is wedged between two larger stones and appears to have been used as "chinking" in the construction of feature 3. In the northeastern corner of feature 3, the stones are two courses deep. To the south of the largest stones in feature 3, a jumbled group of smaller stones is present, which may consist of "fall" from the upper surface of feature 3. The bases of the large stones in the north end of feature 3 are located at approximately 30cm below ground surface (a point above which most of the artifacts from EU M2 were recovered). No evidence of a builder’s trench associated with the feature 3 stones was discovered during excavation, suggesting that these stones simply rested on the ground surface at the time of construction. At 27cm below ground surface (within FS 3), an iron knife blade (mentioned above) was discovered adjacent to feature 3 and the southern wall of EU M2, within a small patch of compact, mottled dark brown loam and clay. A fragment of badly decomposed faunal bone was present just beneath this knife blade. Probing with a chaining pin immediately to the west and south of feature 3 did not reveal any significant continuation of this feature in these directions. Due to its overall form, feature three was interpreted as a pier, perhaps used as a support for architectural sill logs.
A second feature (feature 4) was uncovered to the east of feature 3. Feature 4 consists of a tight group of medium-sized stones. The highest point on these stones is at 16cm below ground surface, and the grouping of stones was clearly visible at 20cm below surface. At the base of excavation in EU M2, a narrow band of dark soil was visible adjacent to these stones to the south and east. Feature 4 is somewhat similar in appearance to feature 1, although feature 4 was apparent at a somewhat higher level of excavation. Feature 4 possibly represents a small, backfilled posthole.
Immediately to the north of feature 3, a dark, rectilinear stain (feature 5) was noticed intersecting the northern sidewall of EU M2. Feature 5 was first noticed at ca. 30cm b.s., and became much clearer upon excavation of FS 4. Feature 5 measures approximately 55cm east/west, and 33cm from its southernmost point to intersection with the north unit sidewall. Feature 5 is also visible in the northern wall profile for a short distance above the base of excavation. A single Moravian ceramic sherd was recovered from the exposed surface of feature 5 at the base of excavation of EU M2. Although the entire plan of feature 5 is not visible, the exposed portion resembles a common form of colonial-period post-hole in its overall shape and dimensions (seeillustration in Noel Hume [1969:136]). Immediately to the west of feature 5, at the base of excavation of EU M2, is a small area of compact clay subsoil mottled with brown loam, which is slightly brighter in color than the surrounding matrix.
At about 27cm below surface, an amorphous, dark stain (feature 6) was noted 30cm to the north of feature 4. While excavation of FS 4 cleared up its general outlines, its shape does not appear to be diagnostic of any particular type of feature. At present, the past function, if any, of feature 6 is unknown.
EU M3
EU M3 was placed directly adjacent to the south of EU M2. The soil profile encountered in EU M3 was basically identical to that seen in feature M2, and the same stratigraphic breaks between FS’s were employed during excavation. As in EU’s M1 and M2, areas of soil compaction were noted at about 20cm below surface in EU M3. Although large numbers of artifacts were found in EU M3, no clear continuation of the "surface" seen in the southern portion of EU M2 was observed during excavation of EU M3. Excavation of EU M3 did not reveal any obvious subsurface features. Upon excavation of the entire EU to approximately 45cm below ground surface (the base of FS 4), a band of clay subsoil mottled with brown loam, slightly brighter in color than the surrounding matrix, was observed adjacent and parallel to the western sidewall of EU M3 along its entire length. The nature of this soil stain is unknown at present.
Artifacts from EU M3 / FS 1 consist of two Moravian ceramic sherds. FS 2 contained Moravian ceramics, a refined agateware sherd, a Moravian stove tile fragment, wrought and cut nails, and a green blown bottle finish fragment, along with a unifacial felsite tool and several flakes. Artifacts from FS 3 include a very large quantity of Moravian ceramics (including a small beaker base in two pieces), two Moravian pipe fragments, a Chinese porcelain sherd, a highly fired (possibly pearlware) vessel rim sherd, a wrought nail, and a cut nail. A French spall gunflint and a piece of lead buckshot were also found in FS 3. Twenty-one prehistoric stone flakes were recovered from FS 3. Artifacts from FS 4 include a small amount of Moravian ceramics and three prehistoric flakes.
EU M4
EU M4 was placed to the east of EU’s M1, M2, and M3, in order to see whether a continuation of the "line" formed by features 1 and 4 would be evident to the east. The distance between the approximate centers of these two features was measured at 2.5 meters, a measuring tape was pulled across them, and a point was marked at 7.5 meters along the tape (at grid point N 1036.07 / E 1033.57). EU M4 was placed with its SW corner at E 1035 / N 1033, in order to encompass this point. EU M4 was located on the northwestern edge of a small hollow in the landform, and ground surface in the southeastern corner of the EU was 36cm lower in elevation than the NW corner of the unit.
As in EU’s M1, M2, and M3, EU M4 / FS 1 consisted of a thin layer of vegetation and root mat which was not screened. The sole artifact recovered from FS 1 is a fragment of modern pressed glass. Directly beneath the sod was a layer of heavy, redeposited clay subsoil (FS 2), which contained several modern artifacts (modern bottle glass and a piece of pink flagging tape), along with a number of earlier artifacts, including Moravian ceramics, wrought nails, a probable cow tooth, and a few prehistoric flakes. This layer of redeposited clay was approximately 20cm thick along the northern end of the unit, tapered off gradually to the south, and was not present in the immediate southeastern corner of the EU, which contained loose, heavily root-disturbed, clayey brown loam beneath the sod layer. This loose soil in the southeastern unit corner was incorporated into FS 2. Beneath FS 2, a ca. 10cm-thick layer of mixed clay subsoil and dark brown loam (FS 3) was excavated. As in FS 2, the immediate southeastern corner of the unit had a loose, root-disturbed appearance. Artifacts from FS 3 include Moravian ceramics and a Moravian stove tile fragment. Beneath FS 3, FS 4 consisted of a layer, approximately 10cm thick, consisting of brown clayey loam with charcoal and brick flecking, mottled with a small amount of clay subsoil. Small sandy inclusions could be felt within FS 4 while trowelling. In general, EU M4 / FS 4 was thought to be analogous to the main artifact-bearing strata in the three previous EU’s. Some loose, root-disturbed soil was still evident in the southeastern corner of the unit while excavating FS 4, but this was mostly gone by the time the base of FS 4 had been reached. Artifacts from FS 4 include a large quantity of Moravian ceramic sherds and a possible Moravian stove tile fragment. FS 5 consisted of approximately 8cm of mixed clay subsoil and brown loam, with a small amount of charcoal flecking. At the base of FS 5, apparently sterile subsoil was reached, and excavation was halted. Artifacts from FS 5 include Moravian ceramics and a quartz flake.
One feature was noted during the excavation of EU M4. This feature (feature 7), consists of a group of large and medium-sized stones which appear to have been intentionally laid. Feature 7 is very similar in appearance to feature 3, although it is slightly smaller in overall size. A large stone in the southeast corner of feature 7 appears to have been artificially shaped. The presence of feature 7 became apparent upon removal of FS 2 (redeposited subsoil), although some of the stones in feature 7 intruded slightly into FS 2, and several small stones were excavated from FS 2, directly above feature 7. The upper surface of feature 7 appeared to have been at or just below ground surface prior to the (probably modern) redeposition of subsoil above it. Similarly to feature 3, no builder’s trench was visible surrounding the stones of feature 7, and the base of the largest stone was found to be located just above the base of excavation, as if the stones had been laid directly on a former ground surface. Also like feature 3, feature 7 appeared to have been subject to some disturbance in the past, presenting the appearance of having some stones from its upper surface pushed off to the west. Feature 7 is interpreted here as probably representing an architectural pier.
EU M5
EU M5 consisted of a 1m X 1.5m extension to the southeast quadrant of EU M1. EU M5 was placed so as to encompass the approximate midpoint of an imaginary line drawn between features 3 and 7. The distance between the approximate centers of the largest stones in features 3 and 7 was measured (in English measurement) at 30.4 feet, and a chaining pin was placed at the center of this line (at grid point N 1037.37 / E 1029.87), with EU M1 placed so as to encompass this point.
Stratigraphy encountered in EU M5 was as follows: FS 1 consisted of sod and root mat, and was not screened. A small modern metal bearing was noted in FS 1, but not saved. FS 2 consisted of a continuation of the redeposited subsoil seen in EU M4, mixed with some gravel, in the eastern half of the EU, and highly organic brown loam in the western half of the EU, which were combined as one FS. Several modern and 19th century artifacts, including modern bottle glass, two cut nails, and a glass medicine bottle with a plastic cap, were recovered from FS 2, along with a small number of earlier artifacts, including a blown bottle glass sherd and two Moravian ceramic sherds. FS 3 consisted of approximately 20cm of dark brown loam mottled with clay subsoil, including a small amount of both brick and charcoal flecking. Artifacts from FS 3 include Moravian ceramics, a refined agateware sherd, a wrought nail, and a green bottle glass sherd. FS 4 consisted of approximately 10cm of clay subsoil mottled with brown loam. FS 4 contained few artifacts, which include Moravian ceramics and a possible Whieldon clouded ware sherd. Excavation of EU M5 was halted at the base of FS 4, at which point the unit floor was level with the base of EU M1, and apparently sterile soil had been reached. No features were uncovered within EU M5.
EU M6
EU M6 was placed directly to the south of EU M3, offset one meter to the west. EU M6 was placed in order to intersect the southern slope of the landform on which the other EU’s had been placed, occupying a position 90° south of a line drawn between features 3 and 7, in order to test the hypothesis that a similar "pier" feature would be found in this location. Prior to excavation of EU M6, probing with a chaining pin revealed stones just beneath the current ground surface. Stratigraphy encountered in EU M6 was identical in most respects to that encountered in EU’s M2 and M3, and the same basic breaks between FS’s were employed: FS 1 consisted of unscreened sod and root mat, FS 2 consisted of brown loam with small amounts of charcoal and brick flecking, FS 3 consisted of brown clayey loam mottled with subsoil, with a small amount of charcoal flecking, and FS 4 consisted of clay subsoil mottled with brown loam, with a very small amount of charcoal flecking. Two major differences were noted between the soil profile of EU M6, and the EU’s directly to the north. Firstly, the A horizon was sharply attenuated towards the south of EU M6, probably due to downslope erosion (the ground surface at the southwest corner of EU M6 was 51cm lower in elevation than the ground surface at the northeast corner). Secondly, the compacted, mottled patches of soil evident in EU’s M1, M2, and M3 were not present in EU M6, with the possible exception of a small area of compact, bright clay subsoil mottled with brown loam in the northeastern corner of the EU. This compact soil was characterized by very heavy root disturbance. This area of soil was first noted between 25 and 30 cm below ground surface in this area, and remained visible at the base of excavation at 38cm below surface. The lack of the patchy, compact soils present in units to the north, which was accompanied by a falling off of artifact frequencies in EU M6, may be indicative of the positioning of this EU in an area exterior to the refugee cabin structures. No evidence (such as fill) was found during excavation of EU M6 to suggest that the low rise on which the refugee cabins probably rested was partially a result of artificial earthworking, indicating that construction on this site made expedient use of the existing landform.
Artifacts from EU M6 / FS 1 consist of one Moravian ceramic sherd and a quartz flake. Artifacts from FS 2 include Moravian ceramics, wrought nails, cut nails, a small quantity of bottle and window glass, a copper button, and seventeen prehistoric flakes. Artifacts from FS 3 consist of a small number of Moravian ceramic sherds and two nail fragments (one wrought, one unidentifiable). FS 4 contained very few artifacts, which consist of two Moravian ceramic sherds, a British type clay pipestem fragment, a blown green bottle glass sherd, and a felsite flake.
As predicted, a stone feature similar in dimensions to features 3 and 7 (feature 8) was encountered intersecting the northern edge of EU M6. Feature 8 is made up of smaller stones than the largest stones seen in features 3 and 7, and has a more jumbled and disturbed appearance, with a number of stones scattered to the south, where they may have fallen downslope at some point in time. Like features 3 and 7, the stones of feature 8 were evident a few centimeters below ground surface, with the larger stones resting a short distance above the floor of the excavation. No builder’s trench was evidently associated with feature 8. Although feature 8 is different from features 3 and 7 in the size of the stones comprising it, it nonetheless appears to conform to the same general plan as these other features.
In addition to feature 8, two dark soil stains were evident at the base of FS 4. One of these is a dark, rounded stain (feature 9) intersecting the southern wall of EU M6, which measured 40cm E/W, and 25cm from its northernmost extent to the point at which it intersects the sidewall. Feature 9 may represent a posthole. A dark, amorphous stain was also noticed in the northwest corner of the EU, directly beneath an area of root disturbance in the west wall profile. This stain was not given a feature number, and was interpreted during excavation as a product of bioturbation.
Interpretation and Recommendations
Taken as a whole, the 1998 excavations at the mill complex area provide a good deal of positive evidence for the presence of the historically-reported row of refugee cabins just south of the former mill to Bethabara road. The three large stone features (features 3, 7, and 8) encountered during excavation conform well to expectations generated from period reports of the construction of the refugee cabins of logs, as pier foundations are a common feature of colonial (and later) log construction. The association of these stone features with large amounts of eighteenth-century debris, including wrought nails and period ceramic types of both Moravian and foreign origin, strengthens the connection of these features with the refugee cabins, although it is stressed that a more thorough study of the Moravian ceramic forms encountered would be desirable in the future, and that Moravian ceramics, as a rule, do not provide particularly fine-grained chronological information. It is also possible, but not certain, that features 1 and 4 may have at one time contained smaller, intermediate piers, since they appear to form a rough NW / SE line along with features 3 and 7 when viewed in plan. The general orientation of the line taken by these features corresponds fairly well to the cartographic projection of the mill complex presented in Willis and Marshall (1988), as well as a group of signposts recently placed on the site to mark the refugee cabin location, showing a strong correlation between these projections, 18th century cartographic evidence, and the archeological materials uncovered. As regards the discrepancy (mentioned above) between the orientation of the refugee cabins as shown on 18th century maps and as projected by Willis (1988), archeological evidence currently tends to support the general validity of Willis’ projection (although further excavation is necessary prior to reaching any positive conclusions). This discrepancy may be attributable to a number of factors, including changes in the orientation of magnetic north over time, and is not necessarily indicative of the inaccuracy of the period maps examined. The close proximity of the Mill Road to the north of features 1, 3, 4, and 7 suggest that they may have been associated with the north wall of the refugee cabins and mill fort, while the positioning of feature 8 adjacent to the southern slope of the low rise investigated suggests that it may mark the southern extent of construction. All of these interpretations, however, should be considered tentative and preliminary, given the very limited nature of the investigation. They may be helpful, however, in generating specific questions and expectations to guide future research at this site, and in providing an interim basis for interpretation of the site pending future research.
While the evidence listed above is strongly suggestive of the presence of the 1758 refugee cabins in this area, the presence of a small quantity of later artifacts (including cut nails, coal, possible pearlware, and 20th century artifacts), recently redeposited subsoil, and a possible modern posthole are indicative of activities at this site which postdate the documented presence of the refugee cabins. Sorting out these various depositional episodes should be a major goal of future research at this site.
Additional excavation of this area, in the form of horizontally extensive block excavations with full excavation of features, will be required in order to reach more definite conclusions concerning the layout and architecture of the former structures in this area. At the present time, for example, the position of the current excavations relative to individual cabins within the row and the bastion (or blockhouse) visible at the western end of the row of refugee cabins on period maps is unknown. Also in question are the size and construction of the individual cabins in the row, the placement of doorways and hearths (if hearths were, in fact, present), whether the cabins stood separately or were conjoined, and whether the mill stockade fence surrounded the north side of the row of cabins (which would be likely if, in fact, the cabins stood separately). A further question involves the relative "footprint" size of the bastions or blockhouses and the rest of the structures in the row, since it is possible, although not historically documented, that the larger size of the possible blockhouses, when shown in plan view, is due to a projecting second story (a standard feature of colonial blockhouses). Finally, the location of the particular structures which were "repaired" for and used by the Broad Bay refugees in 1769 is currently unknown. The extraordinarily good preservation of the architectural features encountered during the present research, however, provides a strong indication that more extensive excavations at this site would be likely to reveal a great deal of information directly pertaining to these questions.
In addition, the large quantity of artifacts recovered during this excavation, apparently in primary contexts of deposition, indicates the great potential of future archeological research at this site in addressing a number of historical and anthropological questions. These include, but are not limited to, questions regarding the relationship between Moravians and non-Moravians as ethnic groups during the early settlement of the North Carolina piedmont, of the social class and/or ethnic affiliations and associated material culture and behavior of refugees located in different living areas within the complex, cultural responses to stress, and the extent of penetration of imported commodities (such as ceramics) into the backcountry during this period. For example, refugees expecting their homes to be pillaged in their absence might be expected to have brought valuable household items such as imported ceramic wares with them to Bethabara if possible, and these objects would have stood a better than average chance of being broken in the crowded environment of the refugee cabins. The amount of ceramic materials present in the excavated material, which seems excessive for the short period of time which the cabins are documented to have been occupied, may in fact attest to frequent breakage of such objects under these conditions. Within this abundant ceramic assemblage, however, only very few sherds are of imported wares, which may reflect the strong market position enjoyed by Moravian craftsmen such as Gottfried Aust prior to the development of effective channels of trade to the North Carolina backcountry. Alternately, future investigations of other areas of the refugee cabin complex may indicate that the ceramic assemblage recovered during the present investigation is reflective of the ethnicity and / or social class of refugees in different living areas, rather than the dependency of the refugees as a group on the Moravians. The recovery of several stove tile fragments from the excavations indicates the possibility that some of the refugees may have possessed the means to acquire tile stoves, which were among the most labor-intensive and expensive products offered by the Moravian potters (Bivins 1972:178), although it is by no means certain at this point that these fragments do, in fact, document the presence of complete stoves in the refugee cabins. For the various reasons mentioned above, as well as the value of this site for public interpretation of historical relationships between the Moravians at Bethabara and settlers in the surrounding countryside, it is recommended that the refugee cabin area be given high priority in terms of the appropriation and allocation of funds for archeological research at Bethabara. A suggested excavation strategy is one of horizontally extensive excavation blocks, positioned so as to cover the entire north/south distance between the mill road and the southern slope of the landform on which the refugee cabins stood, in order to gain the maximum information concerning patterning of features. A program of smaller test excavations, designed to define the exact position of the mill palisade, is also recommended. Due to the horizontally extensive nature of the archeological remains likely to be found at this site, an excavation program comprising several field seasons is envisioned.
As noted above, evidence of prehistoric use of this site, in the form of small quantities of ceramics, tools, and debitage, was also found during excavation. It is recommended that the Mill site’s historic register nomination form be amended to account for these remains.
The Bethabara Tannery (31 FY 7 ** 23)
Like the Bethabara Mill Complex, the known history of the Bethabara tannery has been described in detail in Willis and Marshall (1988). The leather-tanning operation at Bethabara was begun in 1754. A new tannery was constructed in 1757. This structure burned in 1759, and was replaced by another. (Willis and Marshall 1988:111). The tanning industry at Bethabara was ended in 1770 and moved to Salem, resumed at some point afterwards, and was sold in 1811 (Willis and Marshall 1988:111). All of these structures may have been in the same location, but historical records are deficient on the relative positions of the tanneries. It is therefore possible, but by no means certain, that the area under investigation contains the archeological remains of as many as four rebuilding and /or restructuring periods connected to the leather tanning industry at Bethabara. Extant colonial-era maps which show the tannery depict it as located in the flood plain of Johanna (Mill) Creek, to the northwest of and across the current Bethabara Road from the Bethabara garden complex.
Archeological Investigation at the Bethabara Tannery site (31 Fy 7 ** 23)
Willis (Willis and Marshall 1988:111-116) estimated the location of the tannery through the establishment of angles from known points on Reuter’s 1766 Bethabara map (established through South and Demmy’s [1966] correlation of extant stone features in Bethabara with Reuter’s 1766 map) to the theoretical center of the tannery, which fell, as expected, in the floodplain of Mill Creek. Willis’ investigation of the suspected tannery site involved the digging of a 1.5m X 7m unscreened trench on the site. While no artifacts other than a piece of slate were recovered from this trench, the presence of large, dressed stones within the trench and scattered on the ground surface to the north and west of the excavation, as well as strata containing charcoal and possibly ash, along with the cartographic evidence mentioned above, led to the hypothesis that archeological remains associated with the tanning industry at Bethabara were located in the immediate vicinity (Willis and Marshall 1988:112-113).
The 1998 archaeological investigation at the probable tannery site was begun by partially re-excavating the 1987 trench with a small backhoe, in order to get a better understanding of the complex stratigraphy of the site. Unfortunately, a number of stones which had been left in situ in the northern end of the trench were disturbed during the removal of fill. These stones, however, had been previously mapped, and are shown in plan and profile in Wills and Marshall (1988). An approximately four meter section of the east profile of the 1987 excavation trench was cleaned and examined. As reported in Willis and Marshall (1988), the upper portion of the profile consisted of approximately 60 cm. of modern fill, which overlay a light gray sandy clay in which the scattered large, flat, dressed stones were located. Examination of stratum "I," described by Willis (Willis and Marshall 1988: 112) as "a 5-10cm thick layer of dark brown clay containing large amounts of charcoal flecks and small burned flat rocks," however, revealed that some of the apparent "charcoal" consisted of decayed, iron rich minerals, and that the small amount of actual charcoal visible in the exposed profile section appeared to be of insufficient quantity to serve as evidence for the 1759 burning of the tannery, as suggested by Willis (Willis and Marshall 1988:112).
A small portion of the southern end of the trench was dug to a slightly greater depth than in Willis’ excavations. This small shovel test, which was dug to a depth of 12 cm beneath the base of stratum "L" (a dark gray lens of what was described by Willis [Willis and Marshall 1988:112] as possibly consisting of ash), and extended an additional 10 cm via a bucket auger, revealed a stratum of highly consolidated gray clay which contained a small amount decaying vegetation. The upper few centimeters of this stratum had a mottled, brownish appearance, and represents stratum "M" (chocolate brown clay subsoil) in Willis’ profile drawing. This gray clay appeared to be the result of gleying, a process in which iron is converted to a reduced state through saturation with water (Waters 1992: 48), an interpretation consistent with the floodplain location of the site. Overall, it was thought to be possible, upon the inspection of the profile, that some or all of the stratigraphy beneath the large stones in the 1987 trench was natural in origin.
During re-excavation of the backfilled trench, two pieces of slate were recovered. One of these has a curved, convex edge which appears to have been worked. Examination of this piece under low-powered magnification revealed a small amount of possible use-wear in the form of a slight polish on this curved edge which is not visible on the other, broken, edges of the piece. It is possible that this slate fragment is part of a stone "scudding blade" used in the tanning process (Shaw 1987:46 ; Thomson 1981: 165), although an illustrated example of a "scudding slate" in Thomson (1981: 165), has a concave scraping edge for the working of hides over a convex beam surface. The slight polish mentioned above, however, may indicate the use of this object in some capacity as a scraping tool in the tanning operation. On the other hand, this slate fragment may simply be a fragment of a stone used in a walkway or similar feature, or may have served some other unknown purpose. At any rate, given its recovery from unstratified trench backfill and out of association with any other artifacts, it is impossible to convincingly associate this object with the eighteenth-century tanning operation, or any other particular cultural activity.
Following partial re-excavation of the 1987 trench, a metric site grid was established, based on two permanent grid markers (segments of metal pipe placed in cement bases) placed on the site by Willis in 1987 (at N 200 / E 200 and N 207 / E 200). This operation was compromised somewhat due to the fact that the N 207 / E 200 grid marker was undercut and possibly slightly moved during re-excavation of the 1987 trench. Examination of the two markers, however, showed that the N 207 / E 200 marker was located seven meters due magnetic north of the N 200 / E 200 grid marker. The site grid was marked by two baselines, one running west from N 200 / E 200 to N 200 / E 186, and one running north from N 200 / E 200 to N 210 / E 200. A metal water-meter cover was used as a vertical datum during the excavation.
Following establishment of the site grid, an 8m X 1.5m trench (trench T1), to the west of the 1987 trench, was laid out. This trench was laid out at a 45 degree angle to the site grid, oriented in a NW/SE direction. This trench was placed in order to intersect a group of possible building stones on the ground surface to the north and west of the 1987 excavation trench, which were thought to have possibly been redeposited through the digging of a water-line trench crossing the NW end of trench T1, a ditch, and a hole for a power pole in this area. One of these stones was located near the NW end of trench T1, and had to be moved to allow excavation. In addition, trench T1 also intersected the projected north wall of the tannery structure, as presented in Willis and Marshall (1988:115). Since Reuter’s 1766 map shows the tannery structure as oriented with its long axis due east/west and its short axis due north/south, it was decided that a trench angled at 45 degrees to these axes would likely be more effective in locating linear features associated with the tannery structure(s) than a trench directly aligned with the site grid.
Given the extensive 20th century fill activity in this area, which included filling associated with the channelization of Mill Creek and several construction episodes in the immediate vicinity (Willis and Marshall 1988:111), and the presence of a thick overburden of modern fill in the 1987 excavation trench, it was decided to remove a portion of the overburden mechanically. Following the digging of three unscreened shovel tests (with small bucket auger tests at their bases) along the length of trench T1, which indicated the presence of sandy fill to a depth of at least 50cm below ground surface over the entire trench, overlaying clay, a small backhoe was used to remove most of this fill in the SE end of the trench. The presence of several large stones in the fill matrix in the NW half of the trench prevented the use of the backhoe in this area following an initial shallow cut with the machine which revealed their presence. Following the backhoe operation, excavation of the trench was accomplished manually with shovel and trowel. With the exception of occasional sample screening, excavated soil from trench T1 was not screened.
The upper layer of trench T1 consisted of humus and root mat, and contained several modern artifacts (not saved), including modern bottle glass and aluminum drink can pull-tabs. Directly beneath the sod in several areas of the trench, lenses of apparently redeposited sand, clay, and mixed sand and clay were encountered, which were superimposed upon a thin, discontinuous layer of yellowish-brown loam, a situation which is likely a result of the various 20th century earth-moving activities in the area, mentioned above. Extensive root disturbance was also evident near the ground surface, particularly in the SE half of trench T1.
Beneath the disturbed surface deposits in trench T1 was a thick layer of grayish-green sandy, silty fill containing brown sandy clay, red clay, and decayed schist inclusions, which included several large stones in the northwest end of the trench. None of these stones were commensurate in size with the large stones noted on the ground surface in the immediate area. As mentioned above, most of this gray-green fill was removed with a backhoe in the southeast half of trench T1. In the NW half of the trench, several pieces of modern bottle glass (not saved) were encountered in this sand fill, although some of these artifacts are likely associated with the modern water-line trench which crosses trench T1 near its NW end. The modern trench fill, which consisted of the surrounding gray-green sandy fill mixed with surface soils and additional red and brown clay, contained a large amount of modern glass (not saved), as well as several large fragments of stone similar to those seen in the surrounding matrix. Following discovery of the water-line trench, a small amount of the gray-green sandy fill (2 screens full) from outside of the water-line trench was sample-screened through ¼" hardware cloth, and no artifacts were recovered. A large lump of coal, however, was recovered from the gray-green fill at 60cm below ground surface at a point 2.3m SE of the NW end of trench T1. As mentioned in Kirchen and Russell (1997:14), the extension of the Northwest North Carolina Railroad in 1873, and the Roanoke and Southern Line in 1889 to Salem and Winston would have resulted in increased amounts of coal in the area, thus improving the likelihood that coal would be deposited at any particular site in the area after these dates. Other than this lump of coal, no artifacts which could be positively shown to be outside of the modern water line trench were noted in the gray-green sandy fill layer. Given this fact, this fill layer is difficult to date convincingly, but was most likely deposited at some point after the early 1870’s.
Beneath the gray-green sandy fill was a layer of orange-brown sandy clay, containing orange sandy clay and decayed schist inclusions. Two wheelbarrows full of this apparent fill were sample screened through ¼" hardware cloth, and no artifacts were recovered. In addition, no artifacts were noted at all during excavation of this layer, making it impossible to date. Below this deposit was a thin layer of yellowish brown sandy clay with very small orange clay and decayed schist inclusions. This layer of fill overlay a stratum of heavy clay fill with a mottled, mixed appearance, which contained small amounts of sand mottled unevenly throughout the matrix. This layer of clay fill contained a small amount of charcoal. In the NW end of the unit, this clay stratum overlay another thin layer of yellowish-brown sandy clay with small orange clay and decayed schist inclusions, which was virtually identical to the stratum directly above the heavy clay. No artifacts were recovered from these strata, other than a very decayed piece of wood, measuring 10 X 5 X 2 cm(not saved), which was recovered from the clay fill near the step in the NW half of the trench. One wheelbarrow load of this clay, from the SE half of the trench, was screened and no artifacts were recovered.
Below the clay and sandy clay strata described above was a layer of obvious fill consisting of dark brown clay mottled with orange clay, yellowish clay. This layer included charcoal, decaying schist, numerous small stones, and a number of bark fragments. Given the large amounts of oak bark employed in 18th century tanning operations, a small sample of this bark, recovered from the NW end of trench T1 at approximately 1 meter below ground surface, was examined by Kathleen Kron of the Wake Forest University Department of Biology, who identified it as pine bark (a substance which has no known historical role in leather tanning). Several large, partially burned sticks were noted on the surface of this stratum, possibly lying where they were covered during the filling episodes which produced the layers of clay and sandy clay immediately above them, a possible result of the clearing of brush prior to filling.
At this level, a possible feature, in the form of a linear stain of dark brown clay loam including numerous charcoal fragments, was noted adjacent to the central baulk in the SE half of trench T1. This stain is approximately 35cm in width, and extends lengthwise in a roughly east/west direction across the trench. However, the edges of this possible feature were difficult to determine near the NE wall of the trench. One of the partially burned wood fragments noted above was found lying on the surface of this stain. Several areas of heavy clay similar to that found immediately above this possible feature were also present, adjacent to the dark, linear stain to the north. A small shovel test, which was dug along the NE wall of trench T1 to a depth of approximately 10cm beneath the surrounding excavation floor, and which intersected this possible feature, revealed an area of dark gray clay (similar in appearance to the gleyed soil noted in the 1987 excavation) containing charcoal fragments, following the course of the dark stain noted above. This gray clay is also visible in the drawn NE profile of trench T1. The remainder of the floor of this shovel test consisted of sandy clay which appeared to be identical to the thin strata of sandy clay noted above in layered association with heavy clay fill, although this identification was hampered considerably by continual flooding of the trench with ground water (described below). Boundaries between soils were not, however, clearly visible in the SW wall of the shovel test.
At this point in the excavation, continual flooding of trench T1 (described below) necessitated the abandonment of the excavation. A small sump dug near the SE end of trench T1 to a depth of 1.39m below datum (ca. 30 cm below the base of the excavation) did not reduce flooding appreciably. The soil removed from this sump, consisting of sandy mud containing charcoal, did not provide any useful information concerning deeper stratigraphy at the site. A decision was made to attempt to excavate the unexcavated portion of the 1987 excavation trench (the northern end), in order to see whether the possible linear feature noted in trench T1 extended appreciably to the east (a projection of the general line of this possible feature indicated a course intersecting the northern end of the 1987 trench).
Some time was spent in attempting to excavate in the northern half of the 1987 trench, which had previously been excavated to a depth of 89cm below datum (water meter cap), or approximately 20cm above the level at which the possible feature was noted in trench T1. This may indicate that the stratum encountered at the base of trench T1 is the same soil layer labeled "I" (dark brown clay with small flat burnt rock inclusions and charcoal) in the 1987 trench, which lies at approximately the same elevation. Due to flooding, this area was excavated only slightly below the previously excavated level. Excavation encountered a red clay lens containing small amounts of coal, clinker, and tar (not saved) along the western wall of the trench, which overlay a layer of gray/green sandy fill (which was similar in appearance to the gray/green sandy fill seen in trench T1). A large lens of yellowish sand was present in the north end of the trench. The large stones left in situ by the backhoe operation described above (along the western wall of the trench) were sitting within this clay lens, resting on or slightly above the layer of gray/green sand, as shown in the 1987 profile drawing. A bucket auger test was placed near the northern end of the trench, and was not particularly revealing, due to the muddy nature of the soil.
During the entire process of excavation of trench T1 (as well as in the 1987 excavation trench), flooding of the trench with groundwater (which seeped in through the upper sandy fill layers, and was trapped by heavy clays below) posed a continual problem, which eventually resulted in the abandonment of the excavation at the tannery site. The period during which the trench was excavated (early June) coincided with a series of heavy rainstorms, each of which immediately resulted in the presence of about 10cm of water at the bottom of the trench, followed by several days of continual seepage of water through the sidewalls of the trench. This flooding was accompanied by several crayfish, who entered the southeastern end of the trench via subsurface tunneling. Measures taken to mitigate this flooding, which included the separation of trench T1 into two halves via a central balk (designed to keep water flooding into the southeastern end of the trench, which intersected a low point in the landform, from reaching the northwestern end of the trench), the digging of a sump in the southeastern end of the trench and a shovel test near the central balk, and the digging of a shallow ditch from a low, swampy area to the north of trench T1 to a nearby tile drain, did not reduce this flooding to an acceptable level. As a result of this flooding, work was slowed to an unacceptable rate and soil identification (and associated spatial control of the excavation) was compromised seriously. These problems were also evident in the attempted excavation of the northern end of the 1987 trench. A conversation with John French (personal communication: 1998), who served as a crew member during the 1987 excavation at this site, indicated that similar problems had occurred at that time. Since at the time of the 1998 excavation, the water level in nearby Mill Creek was approximately 2.71 meters below the vertical site datum, while the base of the excavation in trench T1 (with the exception of the sump, shovel test, and a small auger test) was approximately 1.10 meters below datum, most of the problems encountered with flooding were probably a result of a "perched" water table resulting from the structure of the immediate soil profile, rather than excavation beneath a more general area water table. Future investigations of this area must take these hydrological problems into account, either through excavating at a particularly dry time of year, or through employing some means of temporarily draining the surrounding landform.
Following excavation, both trenches were lined with black plastic sheeting which had been perforated to allow drainage of water, and backfilled with the soil removed during excavation. The two metal-pipe grid markers (at N 200 / E 200 and N 207 / E 200) placed in 1987 were left in place.
In an attempt to independently confirm cartographic evidence of the tannery location provided by Willis (Willis and Marshall 1987:111), the position of the approximate center of the tannery structure shown on Reuter’s 1766 "unfinished" map of Bethabara was estimated using known points different from those utilized by Willis in 1987. This process involved correlating the scale of the Reuter map with Stanley South’s 1965 base map of Bethabara (South 1965), which consists of a correlation of excavated features at Bethabara with Reuter’s 1760 and 1766 maps of Bethabara, and projecting distance and angle from known points to the center of the tannery structure shown on the 1766 map. The points chosen for the survey were the bell house located in the center of the village stockade reconstruction, and the south corner of a cellar hole representing a post - 1766 addition to the 1764 Tailor Shop, located immediately southwest of the Bethabara Road. The distances and angles, as measured from Reuter’s 1766 map, were as follows: Approximate center of bell house to tannery center: 255.1541 meters at an angle of 47° west of north; west corner of tailor shop to tannery center: 184.4387 meters at an angle of 54° west of north. During the survey, sightings were made on the east post of the bell house (which rests in the post-holes uncovered during South’s excavation), rather than the center of the bell house. Since this structure is very small, this slight discrepancy had a negligible effect on the outcome of the survey. Since it became obvious during surveying that North as represented on Reuter’s 1766 map did not represent the current position of magnetic north, these angles were corrected via correlation of Reuter’s map with South’s map, through comparison between the two maps of the angle between the west corner of the tailor shop, the bell tower, and north, resulting in a 7.5° correction to Reuter’s map. As a result, the angle of the line from the bell house to the tannery was changed to 39.5° west of north, and distance was kept at 255.1541m. This line from the bell tower to the estimated tannery center was surveyed with a transit, which required that the transit be taken down and set up at four separate locations in order to sight around features and vegetation, and down the slope from the village to the tannery site. At each station, the transit was aligned with magnetic north and through a back-shot on the previous station. The survey resulted in the estimation of the tannery center at N 197 / E 220 on the tannery area grid, 20 meters to the west and slightly to the south of the 1987 excavation trench. This point also lies slightly upslope of the two excavated trenches. The accuracy of this point was later confirmed via the use of angles internal to Reuter’s 1766 map: the approximate center of the tannery shown on Reuter’s map is shown as lying at a distance of 184.4387m from the west corner of the tailor shop, at an angle of 25° south of a line drawn between the west corner of the tailor shop and the bell tower. Plotting of this line produces a point approximately 2m to the northwest of the surveyed point.
A bucket auger test was placed adjacent to the nail marking the estimated tannery center, producing the following results: 0-60cm b.s.: mixed sand and clay fill with decaying schist inclusions; 60-140cm b.s.: gray-green sand fill with decayed schist and red clay inclusions; 140-160cm b.s.: mottled orange and gray-green sandy clay with decaying schist inclusions; 160-165cm b.s.: dark grayish-brown clay with charcoal and small bark fragments; 165-180cm b.s.: mixed gray-green sand and orange sandy clay; 180-185cm b.s.: fine green sand and silt; 185-195cm b.s.: grayish-brown sandy clay with some decaying vegetation. Soil from this auger test was screened through ¼" hardware cloth, and no artifacts were recovered.
During surveying of the estimated tannery center, a second point, based on an angular correlation between a "correlation line" drawn on South’s base map, and a segment of the same line drawn on the 1766 Reuter Map, was also surveyed. This comparison revealed a 9° discrepancy between north as shown on the two maps, and resulted in a modification of the angle from the bell house to the tannery center to 38° west of north. The point resulting from this survey was located at N 202 / E 225.5 on the tannery area, approximately 7.5m to the NE from the estimated tannery center. Three bucket auger tests were placed at this point, all of which encountered 50-51cm of mixed clay and sand fill, beneath which was a layer of dark gray sand and gravel which could not be penetrated by the bucket auger. In light of the above-mentioned correlation of the estimated tannery center with angles internal to Reuter's 1766 map, the cartographic validity of this second estimated tannery center is questionable, and it was not marked on the site map.
The current survey, while producing slightly different results than Willis’ 1987 survey (Willis and Marshall 1988:111-116), was found to confirm the general location of the tannery as estimated by Willis. The ca. 20 meter discrepancy between the two surveys may be due to a number of factors, including surveying errors during either or both projects, and/or variability in accuracy within Reuter’s 1766 map or South’s correlation.
Interpretation and Recommendations
Overall, excavation at the Bethabara tannery site was not very successful in producing useful information on the tanning operation or structures associated with it. Excavation in trench T1 and the 1987 excavation trench revealed evidence of a complex series of filling episodes which were difficult to date due to an absence of artifacts. This lack of success should not be taken to indicate that archeological remains connected to the tannery are absent from the area. The possible feature visible in trench T1, the slate fragments recovered from the 1987 trench, and the large stones within the 1987 trench and on the ground surface near trench T1 and the parking lot constitute evidence of activity at the site, which may be associated with the tannery and has been only very incompletely investigated due to hydrological problems. The charcoal and bark present approximately 160-165cm below ground surface at the predicted tannery location surveyed during the current investigation may also constitute evidence of historical activities in the area. Cartographic evidence for the location of the tannery is also compelling, given Reuter’s known surveying accuracy.
The large stones visible on the ground surface in the area of trench T1 are sitting on a layer of fill of unknown, but probably modern, origin. Excavation of trench T1 did not reveal any information concerning the origin of these stones. A conversation with Rodney Meyer (personal communication: 1998), director of Historic Bethabara Park, indicated the subsurface presence of stones similar to these, which were uncovered during the recent excavation of a trench for a telephone line immediately adjacent and parallel to the edge of the asphalt parking lot located a short distance to the west of trench T1. It is possible that future excavation in this area may reveal additional information concerning the significance of these stones.
The importance of the tannery to the economic health of the early settlement at Bethabara (Willis and Marshall 1988:113), the potential to expand the current pool of information concerning the process of leather tanning as practiced in the eighteenth century (as well as possible regional and/or ethnic variations in this process), and the high potential at this site for the preservation of organic materials, due both to the tannin-rich environment of the tanning vats (which may have been used for refuse disposal prior to filling) and the above-mentioned wet and anaerobic nature of the soil profile in the area investigated, all provide compelling justifications for continued research and public interpretation at the Bethabara Tannery site. However, it is recommended that any future research in this area take into account the particular hydrological problems of the site which are described above. In addition, the deep deposits of fill at this site, combined with the possibility of horizontally extensive remains associated with successive tannery operations in the area (due to the multiple rebuildings noted above), indicate that future investigations of the Bethabara Tannery should probably initially employ some form of remote-sensing technology, such as ground-penetrating radar or soil resistivity, in order to get a better idea of the nature and location of buried features.
Bivins, John Jr.
1972 The Moravian Potters in North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Clauser, John W.
1978 The Excavation of the Bethabara Pottery Kiln: An Analysis of Nineteenth Century Potting Techniques. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida.
Fries, Adelaide L.
1968 Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Volume I. Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Idol, Bruce S., Stephen T. Trage, and Roger W. Kirchen
1996 Report on Excavation at the Bethabara 1754 Sleeping Hall Site, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Ms. on file, Wake Forest University Archeology Laboratories, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Kirchen, Roger W. and Aaron E. Russell
1997 Report on Excavation at OS-90, the Denke Wash House, Old Salem. Ms. on file, Wake Forest University Archeology Laboratories, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Lee, E. Lawrence
1963 Indian Wars in North Carolina, 1663-1763. Raleigh: The Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission.
Noel-Hume, Ivor
1969 Historical Archaeology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
1991 A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. New York: Vintage Books. Originally published in 1969 by Alfered A. Knopf.
Shaw, Michael
1987 Early Post-Medieval Tanning in Northampton, England. Archaeology 40(2): 43-47.
Snavely, Alan N.
1985 Dobbs Parish Graveyard – Bethabara Mill Dam: Archaeological excavations at Historic Bethabara, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Ms. on file, Wake Forest University Archeology Laboratories, Winston-Salem, NC.
South, Stanley
1965 Archaeological Base Map of the Site of Bethabara. Map on file, Wake Forest University Archaeology Laboratories, Winston-Salem, NC.
1972 Discovery in Wachovia. Ms. on file, Wake Forest University Archeology Laboratories, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Thomson, Roy
1981 Leather Manufacture in the Post-Medieval Period with Special Reference to Northamptonshire. Post-Medieval Archaeology 15: 161-175.
Waters, Michael R.
1992 Principles of Geoarchaeology: A North American Perspective. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press.
Willis, Raymond F. and R. Jackson Marshall
1988 Archeological Survey of the Proposed Historic Bethabara By-Pass Corridor, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University Archeology Laboratories.
31 Fy 7 ** 22: Bethabara Mill Complex
EU M1:
EU M1 / FS 1: No artifacts recovered
EU M1 / FS 2:
Ceramic: 29 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware sherd: broken-off handle attachment and small perforation in body; iron oxide glazed interior / unglazed exterior 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd 2 Jackfield ware body sherds 9 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
Glass: 3 Thin, clear, curved, "frosted" glass fragments (modern lightbulb) 2 Modern amber bottle glass sherds 2 Green bottle glass sherds 1 Pale green curved glass sherd
Brick: 22 Brick fragments (140.7g total)
Nails: 2 Wrought nails 1 Cut nail
Faunal: 2 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 11 Charcoal fragments (2.8g total)
Small Finds: 1 Pewter button: flat disc, eye missing (solder joint visible); 17mm dia. 1 Small iron buckle fragment 1 Lead fragment (6.7g): amorphous (possibly sprue)
Miscellaneous metal: 1 Small iron sheeting fragment
Miscellaneous lithic: 1 Flake of coarse-grained igneous rock (5.8g) 1 Schist fragment (77.3g) with 2 possibly finished (flat) edges; tabular form
Prehistoric: 1 Small triangular bifacial felsite point (type Carraway) 1 Felsite flake
EU M1 / FS 3:
Ceramic: 40 Moravian earthenware body sherds 2 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds 1 Unglazed kaolin Moravian pipe fragment: portion present is identical to "unglazed anthropomorphic rococo" type (South 1972:facing 118); portion with face missing
Brick: 2 Brick fragments (48.9g total)
Nails: 1 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragment
Faunal: 6 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 2 Charcoal fragments (1g total)
Miscellaneous Lithic: 1 Flake of coarse-grained igneous rock
Prehistoric: 1 Milky-white quartz flake
Feature 1 (partial excavation):
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd 2 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
EU M2:
EU M2 / FS 1 and FS 2:
Ceramic: 36 Moravian earthenware body sherds 2 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 2 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherds 1 Moravian earthenware sherd: green copper glaze 1 Moravian bisque stove tile fragment: "paneled" pattern 1 High-fired white earthenware molded or extruded small (cup) handle fragment. Clear glaze with bluish tint (possibly pearlware, but paste appears too hard)
Brick: 10 Brick fragments (25.5g total)
Nails: 2 Wrought nails 1 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragment
Floral: 1 Charcoal fragment (0.3g)
Miscellaneous: 1 Coarse-grained igneous cobble (196.9g) 5 Coarse-grained igneous rock fragments (207.5g) 1 Coal fragment (2.6g): two edges appear to be ground or otherwise worked 1 Unidentified lead fragment (2.1g)
Modern/Synthetic: 1 Cigarette filter 1 Length of light-gauge steel or iron chain (found just beneath sod)
Prehistoric: 1 Clear quartz flake 2 Milky-white quartz flakes 1 fragment of milky-white quartz 2 ceramic sherds: fabric-impressed, hornblende temper
EU M2 / FS 3:
Ceramic: 98 Moravian earthenware body sherds 3 Moravian earthenware body sherds: copper glaze 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd: copper sponged decoration over white slip 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd: copper sponged decoration over white slip 3 Moravian earthenware vessel handle fragments 6 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 2 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherds 1 Small white earthenware vessel rim sherd: possibly Whieldon clouded ware, but glaze is mostly spalled off 1 Moravian unglazed redware pipe bowl fragment: appears similar to "unglazed anthropomorphic rococo" pattern (South 1972: facing 118); portion with face missing 4 Unidentified (burned) ceramic sherds
Brick: 25 Brick fragments (117g total)
Nails: 1 Wrought nail 4 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Faunal: 9 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 4 Charcoal fragments (0.6g total)
Small finds: 1 Iron knife blade (badly corroded). 143mm long (including remnant of tang), 20mm wide at widest point 1 Copper button; slightly concave disc with soldered eye; 15mm diameter 1 Button (possibly pewter; very badly corroded); slightly oblong flat disc measuring 16mm (long axis) by 15mm (short axis)
Miscellaneous: 1 Small, unidentified lead lump (3.6g) 2 Broken coarse-grained igneous rock fragments (506.2g)
Prehistoric: 1 Milky-white quartz flake 1 Felsite flake 1 Broken, heat-altered quartzite cobble (possible fire-cracked rock) (112.8g)
EU M2 / FS 4:
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd
Floral: 3 Charcoal fragments (0.3g total)
Prehistoric: 1 Clear quartz flake 1 fragment of milky-white quartz (possible core shatter)
Feature 5 surface: base of excavation in EU M2:
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd
EU M2: Unit Clean-up:
Ceramic: 3 Moravian earthenware body sherds
EU M3:
EU M3 / FS 1:
Ceramic: 2 Moravian earthenware body sherds
EU M3 / FS 2:
Ceramic: 84 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware sherd: copper glaze 6 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherds 1 Refined agateware sherd 1 Moravian bisque redware stove tile fragment: "paneled" pattern 8 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds 1 Unidentified (burned) ceramic sherd
Glass: 2 Green bottle glass sherds 1 Green glass bottle finish fragment: hand-blown with applied, tooled string rim
Nails: 6 Wrought Nails 4 Cut Nails 17 Unidentified (Cut or Wrought) Nail Fragments
Brick: 15 Brick fragments (43.1g total)
Faunal: 1 Unidentified faunal bone fragment
Floral: 6 Charcoal pieces (1g total)
Miscellaneous: 1 Lump of lead (5.9g) 3 Pieces of broken coarse-grained igneous rock
Prehistoric: 1 Unifacial felsite tool 1 Felsite flake 1 Clear quartz flake 1 Milky-white quartz fragment
EU M3 / FS 3:
Ceramic: 144 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd: copper glaze 5 Moravian earthenware rim sherds (one is in two pieces) 3 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherds (one, a small beaker base, is in two pieces) 2 Moravian earthenware vessel handle fragments 1 Unglazed Moravian kaolin pipe stem fragment: fluted decoration 1 Unglazed Moravian kaolin pipe bowl fragment: very small fragment, possibly rococo decorative pattern 1 Chinese export porcelain sherd; blue underglaze decoration 1 High-fired white earthenware rim sherd; very thinly potted; molded or turned grooved decoration; blue-tinted clear glaze (possibly pearlware, but paste appears too hard) 3 Unidentified (burned) ceramic sherds
Glass: 1 Clear, curved glass sherd
Brick: 30 Brick fragments (129.9g total)
Nails: 1 Wrought nail 1 Cut nail 2 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Faunal: 16 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 4 Pieces of charcoal (0.6g total)
Small Finds: 1 Piece of lead buckshot 1 Retouched spall gunflint (honey-colored French flint)
Miscellaneous: 3 Unidentified small iron fragments
Prehistoric: 7 Clear quartz flakes 7 Milky-white quartz flakes 7 Felsite flakes
EU M3 / FS 4:
Ceramic: 4 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd 2 Unidentified (eroded) ceramic sherds
Brick: 1 Brick fragment (3.1g)
Faunal: 1 Unidentified faunal bone fragment
Floral: 1 Charcoal fragment (0.1g)
Miscellaneous: 2 Coarse-grained igneous rock fragments (126.6g)
Prehistoric: 1 Felsite flake 1 Milky quartz flake 1 Clear quartz flake
EU M3 / Sidewall cleaning:
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd
EU M4:
EU M4 / FS 1
Glass: 1 Clear pressed glass fragment (modern)
EU M4 / FS 2
Ceramic: 17 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd 2 Unidentified earthenware sherds
Glass: 3 Green bottle glass sherds 2 Amber bottle glass sherds 15 Clear, curved glass sherds 3 Clear, curved glass sherds (molded decoration)
Nails: 3 Wrought nails 2 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Faunal: 1 Tooth fragment (probably Bos taurus)
Floral: 1 Charcoal fragment (0.3g) 3 Wood fragments (1g total)
Miscellaneous: 1 Unidentified iron lump (23.7g) 1 Flake of coarse-grained igneous rock
Modern / Synthetic: 1 Piece of pink flagging tape
Prehistoric: 1 Milky-white quartz flake 2 Felsite flakes
EU M4 / FS 3:
Ceramic: 56 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd 2 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 1 Small Moravian bisque redware stove tile fragment (pattern unidentifiable) 8 Unidentified earthenware sherds
Brick: 3 Brick fragments (2.5g total)
Faunal: 6 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 1 Charcoal fragment (0.1g) 1 Wood fragment (0.2g)
Miscellaneous: 2 Unidentified iron fragments
EU M4 / FS 4
Ceramic: 111 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd 1 Moravian earthenware vessel handle and body sherd 1 Moravian earthenware rim and handle sherd 4 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 1 Small, possible bisque redware stove tile fragment 6 Unidentified (possibly burned) ceramic sherds 7 Unidentified (eroded) red earthenware sherds 2 Unidentified refined earthenware sherds (no glaze)
Brick: 5 Brick fragments (8g total)
Nails:
2 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Faunal: 4 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 5 Charcoal fragments (2.3g total)
Miscellaneous: 2 Unidentified Iron fragments
EU M4 / FS 5
Ceramic: 42 Moravian earthenware body sherds 3 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel handle attachment sherd 8 Unidentified earthenware sherds
Brick: 6 Brick fragments (13.9g total)
Floral: 1 Charcoal fragment (0.3g)
Miscellaneous: 1 Small lead lump (2.3g)
Prehistoric: 1 Small milky-white quartz fragment
EU M5:
EU M5 / FS 1: No artifacts recovered
EU M5 / FS 2:
Ceramic: 2 Moravian earthenware body sherds
Glass: 5 Amber bottle glass sherds 1 Green, blown bottle glass sherd 2 Clear, flat window glass sherds
Brick: 1 Brick fragment (1g)
Nails:
2 Cut nails 3 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Modern / Synthetic: 1 Amber glass medicine bottle with plastic cap and glass dropper
EU M5 / FS 3
Ceramic: 16 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd: copper glaze 1 Moravian earthenware vessel base sherd 1 Moravian earthenware sherd: two small perforations in body; annular incising; iron oxide glazed on one side, unglazed on other 4 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 1 Refined agateware sherd 21 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
Glass: 1 Green bottle glass sherd
Brick: 2 Brick fragments (7.8g)
Nails: 1 Wrought nail 1 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail
Faunal: 1 Unidentified faunal bone fragment
Miscellaneous: 2 Crimped thin iron sheeting fragments 4 Flakes of coarse-grained igneous rock (two of these cross-mend) (67.4g)
EU M5 / FS 4:
Ceramic: 7 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd 1 Burned refined earthenware rim sherd (possibly Whieldon clouded ware, but most glaze has spalled off) 3 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
Nails: 1 Unidentifiable (cut or wrought) nail
EU M5: Sidewall Cleaning:
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd
EU M6:
EU M6 / FS 1
Ceramic: 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd
Prehistoric: 1 Milky-white quartz fragment
EU M6 / FS 2
Ceramic: 54 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd: copper and manganese sponging over white slip (Whieldon copy); annular incised decoration 1 Moravian earthenware body sherd: faintly visible traces of copper sponging over white slip (possible Whieldon copy) 5 Moravian earthenware rim sherds 8 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
Glass: 2 Green bottle glass sherds 1 Clear, flat window glass sherd
Brick: 8 Brick Fragments (20.5g total)
Nails: 4 Wrought nails 2 Cut nails 8 Unidentified (cut or wrought) nail fragments
Faunal: 4 Unidentified faunal bone fragments
Floral: 1 Wood fragment (0.1g)
Small Finds: 1 Copper button: flat disc with soldered eye; 17mm dia.
Miscellaneous: 1 Flake of coarse-grained igneous rock (5.9g) 1 Fragment of a broken coarse-grained igneous cobble (169.3g)
Prehistoric: 5 Felsite flakes 5 Clear quartz flakes 7 Milky-white quartz flakes
EU M6 / FS 3
Ceramic: 5 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 Moravian earthenware rim sherd 2 Unidentified (eroded) earthenware sherds
Nails: 1 Wrought nail 1 Unidentified nail fragment
EU M6 / FS 4
Ceramic: 2 Moravian earthenware body sherds 1 English-type white clay pipestem fragment
Glass: 1 Green bottle glass fragment (blown)
Prehistoric: 1 Felsite flake
31 Fy 7 ** 23: Bethabara Tannery
1987 Excavation trench backfill: 1 Slate fragment (300.7g) with convex curved edge which appears to be intentionally worked and shows a slight polish under low-powered magnification 1 Slate Fragment (83.5g)
1987 Excavation trench: 1 Small sample of charcoal and minerals (probably manganese) taken from stratum "I"
Trench T1: 1 Coal Fragment (14.6g) recovered from gray/green sandy fill, 62cm below SW corner ground surface, 2.3m SE of NW end of trench
1 Small sample of pine bark (3.5g), taken from NW end of trench at approximately 1m below ground surface
Library Index