After Sheila Charle's lecture on archaeology and the Chase House, ponder the following:
Is there a house or barn or site which interests you and which you feel could benefit from an archaeological survey or actual dig? What indicators would suggest this possibility? What might the potential be for discovery and why? Are there other sources available to guide or support potential finds-- family letters, town records, tax and census records, probate and inventories, oral history and so on.
For casual discussion on Tuesday, prior to the lecture by Marla Taylor.
When I was in 3rd grade my class and I took a field trip to the octagonal schoolhouse in Birmingham, PA. I immediately thought of this location to do an archaeological dig, so I decided to do a little research..
ReplyDeleteThe schoolhouse was built in 1819, and was located near a Quaker Meeting House, which was built in 1763. The Battle of Brandywine also took place near this location (the meeting house was used as a hospital). I think an archaeological dig near any of these two building would be pretty cool. Not only would there be material from the battle but also from the people attending the Quaker meetings as well as the children at the schoolhouse.
Another location for a possible dig would be the Colonial Plantation located in Media, PA.
BECCA ODELL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Friends_Meetinghouse
http://www.colonialplantation.org/
http://loc.gov/pictures/item/pa0241/
http://loc.gov/pictures/item/pa0242/
2/21/11 Place for archeology research
ReplyDeleteI know that the idea was to suggest a house site or barn. I would instead like to propose a cemetery in South Berwick Maine. Old Fields Burying Ground, also called Vine Street Cemetery was established in the 1600’s southeast of the current town center. Originally the town of South Berwick was close to where two rivers met near the Hamilton House (owned by and open in the summer for tours). The first meeting house was in this area, as well as the first mills, first school house, and first mansions. The oldest graves are now gone. Some of these would never have even had any stone markers, some would have been field stones (also called pioneer stones in some areas). Quakers frequently had no stone ever as it was too presumptuous. During Indian conflicts graves were not always marked to keep the Indians from digging up the bodies and hanging parts of the bodies in trees. There are early records that indicate that there were some marked graves that no longer appear and perhaps are just below the grassy surface. Old Berwick Historical Society has information on the early families of South Berwick to help in researching who is likely buried in the cemetery. I would like to bring to light stones markers, as well as get a sense of where unmarked graves are.
Excellent thoughts and ideas--we will discuss tomorrow in class. Also, will share with Sheila Charles...
ReplyDelete