Pit 108: Level 3

Completed by David Brinkman on June 15, 2020. As hoped for, and expected, the artifact count picked up in level three. As I approached our maximun dig depth (50 cm = 20 inches) I discovered a realtively large (one inch square and 1/4 inch thick) black artifact. I assumed it was charcoal even though we have never found a piece that large. Later on, I took great care in cleaning it and found it was not charcoal but, instead, a soft and flexible object. The outside was pure black and very sticky. The sticky black coating gradually wore off, as I cleaned, and exposed what looks and feels like a piece of leather. Given its shape, my best guess is that it was a piece of a thick shoe tongue. It seems the mysterious black coating on the object may be what preserved it. But what was that? Maybe tar?

The final tally of items found found in pit 108 was 106 artifacts. That's much lower than our average of 167, but pit 108 gave us three artifacts that will end up being on the list of best finds in Granby. They were:

1. A 1960/1970 plastic doll which led to the discovery of the first owners of our dig house.

2. A 1776 medicine bottle top and its connection to sales items in the Congaree Store account book of 1784-1786.

3. An incredibly preserved piece of leather that may have been part of a Granby shoe (or maybe even older and a piece from Indian trader Thomas Brown.)

Pit 108: Level 3 produced: Granby period: 14 kitchen pottery, two stoneware, five kitchen glass, 13 window glass, eight square nails, three iron pieces, one leather, two slate, 12 charcoal, and four slag. Native American: One flake.

Below: Photos of the suspected piece of Colonial period leather.

Above: Colonial period shoes. Below: Wade Hampton buys a pair of shoes on Christmas Eve, 1785.

Below: The Mulberry tree roots.