Pit 89: Level 3

Completed by Odess and David Brinkman on December 13, 2015. Architecture artifacts increased in level 3 but the most important artifact was an obvious Native American cutting tool made of a material we have not seen. 5 other pieces of this same material were also found in level 3. Another split pipe stem and a pipe bowl piece were also found. Just as we were getting to the bottom of the pit, at 49cm, an obvious rectangular building feature appeared which continued to 60cm. This could be an important clue as to why we have not been finding features in this area. On the outside of the fence, features have been appearing at about 30cm. We think the plow zone accounts for this but would not explain a disturbance to a depth of 49cm. One theory is that plant life (roots) have erased the features inside the fence and, in fact, we were finding roots to about this depth. The previous owners of the property loved to plant all kinds of things but it looks like they did all of it within the fenced-in area of the yard. This would explain what we are seeing. It also goes along with what we saw at Fort Congaree II where the palisade wall feature disappeared as we moved into the yard but resistivity readings showed a continuation of the wall. All levels together, pit 89 was much better than average with 185 artifacts and an important feature. Among the artifacts were 41 pieces of pottery, 51 pieces of glass, 15 nails, 10 Native American features, 23 charcoal pieces, 2 pipe stems and a pipe bowl piece, and 24 iron pieces.

Pit 89: Level 3 produced: 14 pieces of pottery, 31 pieces of glass, 9 nails, 9 Native American pieces, 23 charcoal pieces, another split pipe stem, and 9 more iron pieces.

Below: An obvious building feature in the north-east corner wall.

Below: Our 2015 Granby Christmas Party