Mini Field School at Kittiewan, October 25-26, 2014

The land Kittiewan Plantation rests on was first mentioned in historic records as Konwan in 1618, when above the beautiful Kittiewan Creek.  The manor house is believed to have elements built between 1730-1780, based on information gleaned from the previous landowner and Colonial Williamsburg architects.  The manor was surrounded by several outbuildings including slave quarters, a kitchen, ice house, and a hospital/doctors office.  Nearby was an antebellum school house.  Owned by American Revolution physician Dr. William Rickman, many members of the Harrison family of Berkeley, and Dr.  William Selden, the house was modified several times, with the last major addition built prior to the Civil War. 

For the past several years, Kittiewan archaeologists have used the 1931 Shurcliff scaled map (attached) to guide excavations that confirmed the locations of the kitchen, dairy, ice house, and slave quarters northeast of the Manor House, and a utilitarian structure west of the Manor House.  These are now marked and interpreted to the public.  The two remaining buildings yet to be located are a smokehouse northeast of the Manor House, and a privy northwest of the Manor House.  In addition, the former smokehouse reportedly was moved to one of the tenant houses and is being used as a shed; verifying its original location could enable the relocation of this structure back to its original site.

The 2014 excavations will focus on smokehouse and privy areas.  Participants will assist in “ground-truthing” the 1931 Shurcliff scaled map of the property by excavating 5’ x 5’ units in targeted areas. 

Hours can be applied towards historic excavation, laboratory, and public outreach requirements for the Certification Program.

WHEN:

• October 25-26, 2014, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Field Directors, Martha Williams and Bruce Baker

WHERE:

• Kittiewan Plantation, southern Charles City County, between Richmond and Williamsburg.

·         Street Address:  12104 Weyanoke Road, Charles City, Virginia 23030

·         http://kittiewanplantation.org/

For further information and/or to register, contact Bruce Baker by October 1, 2014. 

2014 Lab Field School August 4-8

We are pleased to announce that our annual ASV-VDHR-COVA Certification Laboratory Field School will be held at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in Richmond from August 4-8, 2014.  Attached please find the announcement and schedule of classes.  You are invited to attend any or all days, and we encourage you to check your calendars now as we have a limit on the number we can accept on any given day (12 students).  Please reply to Dee DeRoche at the email address on the agenda linked below as soon as possible.   

As with last year's event, we will offer a mix of Certification courses and laboratory hours.  

The week's agenda is available here.

Page County, VA: White House Farm Field School 2014

1832, ‘Trace of the Shenandoah River East and West of the Massanutten Mountain” (J. Herron)

Applications due May 23 to Carole Nash.

Satisfy historic excavation requirements in lovely Page County at the 2014 White House Farm field school from June 9-14. The White House, located along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River five miles west of Luray, is one of the Shenandoah Valley’s most recognized landmarks. Constructed around 1760 by Mennonite minister Martin Kauffman as a dwelling and meeting house, the Rhenish stone structure dates to the era of the original Massanutten Settlement and was part of the Hamburg community. The two-story house includes a vaulted cellar, common in the stone houses of the Page Valley and believed by earlier historians to be a defensive feature associated with settlers’ forts of the French and Indian War era. More recent research indicates that these features were functional spaces and Germanic architectural markers.

The house was occupied into the 1830s, after which time it was used intermittently by farm workers. Very little has been done to alter its interior since Federal-era woodwork was installed. Listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1977, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 under Criterion C (‘embodies distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction’). The Certification Field School in 2012 was the first attempt at investigating the archaeological resources of the property. Today, the White House is central to the White House Farm Foundation (http://whfarmfoundation.org/), a non-profit educational organization that maintains the 270-acre farm “to enrich individuals with knowledge of and involvement with our natural ecological systems, sustainable agriculture, holistic community planning, and respect for local history and culture.”

The 2014 field school will continue the work started in 2012, including resuming excavations into 18th century features adjoining the standing house. We will also continue our testing around the house in search of an earlier log cabin and barn that were part of the complex. The field school, directed by Dr. Carole Nash (JMU), will run from Monday, June 9 - Saturday, June 24, 2014. The excavation of a series of 2.5’ x 2.5’ units and on-site laboratory work will provide students the opportunity to meet both excavation and laboratory requirements. The community focus of the White House Farm Foundation will also provide students the opportunity to work toward the public archaeology requirement.

For more information and an application, contact Carole Nash at nashcl@jmu.edu.

2014 Eastern Shore Field School

Happy New Year to all. As we look forward to spring, let the fieldwork opportunities begin!

Excavations at 44NH0431

Eastern Shore, Northampton County, Virginia

Field Work Opportunity

May 14 – 20, 2014

Background

The Department of Historic Resources has recognized the impacts of both sea level rise and catastrophic storms on archaeological resources on the Atlantic Coast, Chesapeake Bay, and the tidal sections of tributary rivers.  Threatened Sites funds and volunteer programs have been combined to provide for an Archaeological Marine Resources Initiative.  Although sites and information will be lost, it is the goal of this program to recover as much data as possible as the archaeological resources are impacted.   The field school program for 2014 will focus on the excavation of a site that is under threat, 44NH0431, an eroding shell midden.

Named “Nassawadox Creek #1” by Lowery during his 2000 archaeological survey of the Virginia’s Bayside Eastern Shore, the site is located on an eroding bank of Chesapeake Bay on Church Neck.  Recovered artifacts include fire-cracked rock, various shell species, a steatite bowl fragment, bifaces, and prehistoric ceramics associated with 5 different wares spanning the Woodland Period.  The site is being heavily impacted by wind and wave action and suffered serious damage during Hurricane Sandy. 

Field School

The field school meets requirements for the ASV/DHR/COVA Certification Program for excavation. Headquarters for the field school will be Kirwan Hall located ca. 5.5 miles from Eastville on the Chesapeake Bay side.  Several motels are found in the environs of nearby Exmore.  In addition, arrangements have been made for camping at Kirwan.  Participants are responsible for lodging and meals.  Lunch will not be provided at the site.  Portajohns with washstands will be available at Kirwan and the excavation site.  The field school timing in early spring will avoid the influx of insects and the hot humid weather.  Work will begin at 8:30 am and shut down by 4:30 pm.  Excavation may also be prone to the vagaries of the weather.

  

The 2014 Field School is sponsored by ASV, DHR, and USDA-Forest Service Passport in Time in cooperation with James Madison University and Northampton County.

Application Due Date:  April 1, 2014. Contact Jolene Smith for more information and an application.