Week 4 - An Army of Amateur Adult Archaeologists

This week we opened 8 new pits and closed a few from earlier weeks. Our participants were digging so fast, we could barely keep up with our lot summaries! The week centered around discussions about the stone foundation itself, including much debate about the future of the project. It was determined that we should find the corners of the building, but it seemed that everywhere we dug we found something different! In 76AG, we thought we would find a T-shaped foundation, but we actually found the North-East corner. (Or so we believe.) In 76AH and 76AJ, evidence is starting to surface that shows more stone foundation where we thought the discoloration of the grass indicated the South-East corner. As staff, we feel the week left us with more questions than answers, which is just the way we like it! The mystery of the Naval Hospital continues to develop in front of us as we reveal its' past one trowel stroke at a time. Artifacts this week included the usual glass, bone, nails and ceramic, but we also found a piece of wood with nails in it and many pieces of a green transfer plate (with the same pattern and texture!) The biggest find of the week was in pit 76AG where a food storage container has yet to be completely unearthed!