Volunteering at Burch House Addition - Part 2

During September and October Charles County Archaeology Society members helped the Port Tobacco Archaeological Project  (PTAP) with the additional excavations needed to provide an addition to the Burch House.   This house is one of three surviving 18th-century houses in the town.

Alyssa, Jim. Anne, Elsie, Jane

PTAP looked at two areas around Burch House.

On the left new PTAP crew member Alyssa Marizan along with Dr. Jim Gibb, Managing Director for the Port Tobacco Archaeological Project, PTAP crew member Anne Hayward, and CCAS members Elsie Picyk and Jane Keller excavated a unit in the woods.   The well will be in this area Not pictured is CCAS member Carol Cowherd.



The second area was to the east of Burch House.  This unit was full of layers of heavy gravel, lighter gravel, sandy soil -- normally not a very interesting unit.  But the unit shows the sedimentation that occurred in Port Tobacco and may even give a clue to the date.  Also over 2 feet down, Jim excavated a gully.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of it, but on the right is a picture showing some of the stratigraphy.   Below this level were additional brick fragments and pieces of eighteenth century ceramics.

See Volunteering at Burch House Addition for pictures of the excavations completed next to the house itself.