Little Sherd, Big Interest

One aspect of the Danbury site that surprises many people is that it is relatively "artifact-poor." This means that, although we have found many interesting and very informative features at the site such as earth ovens, several different types of burials, shell artifacts from the Gulf coast, and a rare birdstone, the quantities of everyday articles (i.e., pot sherds, flint projectile points, and bone tools) are rather scarce. This fact can be frustrating to some of the folks who join us in the field, but it is probably the result of working in an area of the site that was devoted primarily to the burial of the dead rather than habitation areas where such artifacts would have been used and then discarded in large quantities.

We recently found a very interesting pottery sherd that caused quite a bit of excitement around the dig. Not because it is all that spectacular, but because it is relatively large and bears an intricate decoration. This decoration consists of impressions made with a twisted piece of plant fiber cordage which forms rough but recognizable geometric patterns. Here are images of the front (exterior) and back (interior) of this sherd.



The fine cord-impressions can be seen on both faces of the sherd. This pottery is of a type called Vase Corded and is typical of the Late Woodland period, Western Basin Tradition of the region. The Late Woodland society that made this type of pottery lived between about A.D. 700 and 1000. The cord-impressed technique was used far beyond the western Lake Erie basin. It is found on pottery from Wisconsin through Ontario to New York. Such a wide geographic distribution of a decorative technique indicates that native peoples across the Great Lakes traded not only pottery, but information and ideas that became ingrained in all societies.

Completing Our Coverage

At the end of our second week, we have made much progress. We successfully completed most of our systematic testing of Lot 4. By systematic, I mean regular spatial sampling of the remaining deposits in this important part of the development. As the map of the 2004-2006 excavation above shows, our work in Lots 4, and 6 was carried out in two progressive stages. The first stage was the laying out of 2 x 2-meter excavation units at regular intervals to sample the surviving burial features, cooking and storage pits, post molds, and, unavoidably, recent disturbances from past farming and trailer park living. This systematic sampling approach is most obvious in Lot 6 (at the top of the map), but was undertaken in Lot 4 as well. This map does not show our new units from this season; if it did, you would see that most of the "holes" (i.e., gaps in the rows of test units) are now filled in. Our work began in Lot 3 in 2004 (bottom of the map) where we started with systematic testing but quickly shifted to blocks of contiguous units. This change was necessary to allow an early assessment of what remained at the site. We halted our work in Lot 3 at the end of the 2004 season when we learned that this property was destined to be preserved.

The second phase of excavation involved the addition of test units to form large block areas. These blocks exposed more of the features and post mold lines that we found through systematic testing. Below is a view of one block excavation area from the 2005 season.


This more extensive approach is in keeping with the "salvage" nature of our work at Danbury. We want to record as much of the site that remains as possible. Despite our best efforts, however, we will not be able to rescue everything that remains. This does not mean that we are done with our work. In the final four weeks we plan to sample and document the dense concentration of features which lies in the western one quarter or so of Lot 4. If enough time remains, we may engage a backhoe to strip the remaining plow zone from the strip along the eastern edge of the property. In the end though, the days of digging an entire site with masses of hardy workers is no more; now "sampling" is the prime directive.

A Burned Earth Feature

Our first pit feature of the 2007 season was discovered at the end of last week. The cross-section profile shown above nicely illustrates the dark, organic soil layer that filled the top of this shallow basin. Mixed with the dark-colored soils in the northern (right hand) half of the profile are reddish-brown soils that are the result of burning. Close contact with high temperatures, usually from burning wood or sometimes hot rocks, oxidizes the natural iron compounds in the soil, turning them a bright orange-red color (see closeup below)


As our crew continued to remove the fill of this small pit feature, they discovered a cluster of human bones which may represent another burial feature. Some of the bones were charred, indicating that this feature may be a place where remains were cremated. We should know the answer to this later in the week.