The Cellar Dig at Brierfield
The Ironworks at Brierfield passed through several incarnations during the second half of the 19th century beginning with its birth during the Civil War as a key source of pig iron for the Confederate industrial complex at Selma. Following the war, the furnace plant was enlarged at least three times. Each time new workers were hired and their housing and other facilities were probably refurbished and expanded. The last of these efforts came toward the close of the 19th century. With each rebirth, hope reigned. For brief spans the site must have been a bustling community of iron makers and their families. The AHIC SAV team digs have been piecing together this interesting story bit by bit in week-long digs each spring and fall since 1998. Most recently, in the Fall of 2007, we fully excavated the contents of a substantial, well built cellar for what must have been one of the most extensively occupied structures at the ironworks.
The cellar after it had been fully excavated.
A close up view of the pig iron bar recovered from the cellar. 
Mystery find from the cellar, a brass object about four and a half inches long. We have yet to identify it. Any ideas?
The Fall dig revealed much about the architecture of the cellar. The pintle shown above was part of a hinge on the cellar door.
Precise measurements and careful record-keeping ensure that the information recovered from our digs accurately reflects the history of the site.
There’s more to a dig than just digging. “Sarge” (Bob Will) performs maintenance on the Garvin Lab equipment trailer (The Helmsmobile).
The dig site the day after the team had gone home. We try to leave no trace of where we have been working.