The chimney bases marking the sixteen house sites that comprise the Quarters are divided into two rows of eight houses each. The houses were built on a slope flanking a hollow. Last year we excavated the remains of one of the houses near the southwest end of the upper row. This year we will investigate one of the house sites near the northeast end of the lower row. We are hoping that two sites so far apart will be more likely to reveal any differences that may exist regarding dates and methods of construction, periods of occupancy and the identity of occupants. We will also open a few additional squares over the footprint of the house we dug last year in order to recover most of the surviving wrought iron cut nails used in its construction. After this we will return the stones of the chimney base as close as possible to their original location and restore the original ground contour. We want the site to look just like it did when it was first discovered during our survey two winters back.
Jessica Brown, Field Crew Chief for the dig, examines the chimney base that we will be excavating. The large stone at center right is probably a remnant of the pier that supported one of the downhill corners of the house. From what can be seen on the surface, the house is identical to the one we investigated last summer; There is a shallow barrow pit just beyond the chimney pile where a loamy clay was dug up to use as chinking for the fireplace and chimney. There are stone piles at what were probably the two downhill corners of the structure. And the chimney pile itself is about the same size as the one we dug last summer.
