This week's wrap-up: Following the wall

I dedicated Monday to cleaning up the bottom level of the wall feature and drawing and photographing the unit.  The first level of the wall, which was first unearthed back in May, was comprised of stones that ranged in size.  Some stones were even still attached by mortar.

Once I was able to get below the stones, the second level contained large chunks of mortar and mortar dust.  Once I finished excavating that level, I hit the natural level.  The bottom of the wall is approximately 1.75' from ground level and 2.5' wide.  In the picture below, you can see that I kept some of the stones in the unit wall.  On the left side (the southern wall closest to the house), the stones that remain are securely set in the unit wall.  The stones on the right side (northern wall) are stacked on top of one another and are attached by solid mortar.  They seem to extend into the newly opened Unit 5.

Here are some photos of my friend Michelle and I working on Level 1 in the new unit:

We finished Level 1 and numerous stones are starting to emerge that seem to line up with the stone wall from the other unit.  We found all of the usual artifacts--nails, ceramics, and glass.  At the end of the day, Michelle found a button in the screen.

While it does not date the Graeme period, it was still an interesting find.  This is the fifth or sixth button I have found since beginning in May.  

Stay tuned for further updates!

Featured Artifact: Glazed Brick

If you are a complete history geek like me, you may find this featured artifact quite interesting.  Bricks became a common construction material during the Graeme period.  While the archaeology shows that the garden walls were primarily stone and mortar, it is possible that glazed bricks were used as a decorative component.  The walkways in the garden were made of brick, and because three types of brick have been collected from both the 1985 excavation and my current excavation (orange brick, red brick and glazed brick), it may also be that the walkways had patterns that utilized these three brick types.

Since May, I have collected various colors of this glazed brick.  Although I have found little information about this building material, I was able to find this passage from Hugh Morrison's Early American Architecture:

"But the first great building material of Georgian architecture was brick.  Brick manufacture has become common almost everywhere, the quality of hard-burned face brick had improved, and from the kilns came a great variety of colors and glazes, ranging from warm roses and salmon pinks through darker reds to purples and blue-blacks.  The latter were bricks from the arched vault of the kiln itself, where being laid radially the inner ends were burned in successive firings to a glass-like surface and deep color; when a new kiln was built, these were saved and used to enliven surfaces with patterns of glazed headers."

Below are some photos that show the breadth of colors that are at this site:

Dark gray, almost black; silver-gray

Red; mottled reddish-brown

Gray

Silver with white specks; reddish-brown; brown

Because the the Penrose family dismantled the garden walls and re-purposed the materials from the garden and other outbuildings, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how these bricks were used in the garden.  The larger piece in the third photo was found against the garden wall in Unit 1.  Many of the other pieces were found in densely-packed levels of brick that could be part of the original walkways.  When combining the data from both garden excavations, it is safe to assume that glazed brick did play a prominent role in the construction and aesthetics of Elizabeth's formal garden--to what degree is yet to be seen.

My extensive searches for the use of glazed brick in historic sites has yielded little information.  Please feel free to contact me with any other information or resources you may have.  It would be greatly appreciated!

This week's wrap-up: Crazy Critters and Amazing Artifacts

Graeme Park always seems to keep me on my toes.  From the colorful volunteers and visitors to the always-changing landscape, this site possesses the unique ability to to keep me interested, invested and emotionally tied to it.  I have witnessed and experienced many things since beginning my work here some 2+ years ago, but this week has been one of the most entertaining and fulfilling.

As many of you may know, Graeme Park is a Wildlife Refuge.  We have snapping turtles, geese, ducks, blue herons, deer, snakes, feral cats (that are incredibly spoiled thanks to the kind hearts of our volunteers), and numerous other types of wildlife.  

Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of having what I called a "yellow-jacket on steroids" (which turned out to be a White-Faced Hornet) dive-bomb into my artifact screen, it's legged wrapped around an equally as massive Cicada.  It began devouring the Cicada until it picked it back up and dragged it into a hole in the ground.  That was a lovely way to end the day.

If you have ever visited the park, you know that it has hearty population of Canada geese.  Even if they MIA, they leave traces all over the property.  When I drove in today, I was greeted by what seemed like hundreds of geese.  They were sprawled all over the pond and the surrounding grass, relentlessly fighting, honking and splashing.  I hope they relocate very soon.

About five minutes later, I was taking the tarp off of Unit 1 and I was surprised to find a toad inside the unit.  i guess I scared him as much as he scared me because he jumped straight up into the air and landed back down by the western wall.  I told him that he could hang out for a bit--I had to go inside and write a blog post.

Finally, as I was leaving the visitor's center, I was lucky enough to capture one of our resident butterflies snacking on what other than the butterfly bush.

I suppose I should return to the purpose of this blog--my garden excavation--but I just wanted to share some of my experiences while digging at the park.  I highly encourage those of you who haven't spent time here to walk through the nature trail and hopefully you will have some interesting experiences as well.

Now, onto the archaeology.  These past 2 weeks have been more productive than in previous weeks.  The weather has been (slightly) more on my side and with the help of a dear friend, I was able to finish Unit 4 which contained typical yard scatter (ceramics, glass, nails) and a few pieces of the beautiful tin-glazed tile that I wrote about in a previous entry.  No features or diagnostic artifacts to speak of (in this instance, by diagnostic I mean a type of artifacts that can be definitely attributed to the Graeme period).  Once this unit finally dries up, I can take proper closing photos and fill it back in.  Unit 3, directly to the south of Unit 4, contains a circular stone feature.  I keep draining it in hopes that it will dry out so I can finish excavation, but the rain has prevented me from doing so.  

I returned to Unit 1, the unit where the garden wall was found, in an effort to excavate the remaining wall before the end of the season.  I was able to completely remove the stones from the wall; below the stone level was a thick level of large chunks of mortar and decomposed mortar dust mixed into the soil.  

Upon removing this mortar level, a 3inch piece of kaolin clay pipe stem emerged from the east side of the wall trench.  

The artifact density within the feature is low, which makes sense considering the wall was originally a solid stone and mortar structure.  The objects I am finding are concentrated around the wall, not within the wall itself.  During the 18th century, gardens were kept tidy by sweeping the debris from the walkways to the garden walls.  As a result, pieces of ceramic, glass, and miscellaneous other objects collected around the bases of garden walls.  These artifacts can be very telling about the lifestyle of the Graeme family as well as particular activities that took place within the garden itself.

While the first few levels in the unit seem to date to Penrose occupation of the house (19th century), level 5 contains artifacts that are more indicative of the Graeme period.  The artifacts are scarce, which is not unusual considering that the garden was properly maintained in the first half its life, while it fell into disrepair the second half as Elizabeth struggled financially.  Along with brick fragments and pieces of utilitarian redware, these few sherds of various ceramics were collected:

From right to left: creamware rim sherd with molded decoration; embossed blue feather or shell edgeware; pearlware with underglaze hand-painted design; cobalt blue handpainted ware (pattern may be two legs with stockings)

I also found a pipe bowl:

It is interesting that pipes seem to be a reoccurring artifact.  When the garden was partially excavated in 1985, the archaeologists also found pieces of clay pipes.  While I am trying to "find" Elizabeth through the material culture of her garden, this type of artifact that is closely associated with men keeps emerging.  That in itself is important however; women of good standing, like Elizabeth, would not have engaged in such activities.  Smoking was a male activity.  She cannot be tied to these objects.  Nevertheless, Dr. Graeme was of course a prominent figure at the house, as well as Elizabeth's husband, Henry Hugh Fergusson, who resided at Graeme Park for approximately two years.  Additionally, Elizabeth frequently entertained at her Horsham estate; she was a well-respected and beloved member of Philadelphia high society.  Her visitors included Dr. Benjamin Rush, Ben Franklin and his son William just to name a few.  It would have been common practice for Elizabeth and her guests to take strolls and engage in lively discussions within formal garden.  These objects may not be directly associated with her, but they do add to our understanding of how the garden was utilized and what types of visitors Elizabeth entertained during her time in Horsham.