Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

Marley had asked us to formulate a budget for possible archaeological work at the Deane Forge. As part of this planning this budget, our office spent several hours on archaeological testing directly north of the shop and in the orchard area northwest of the house. These are two areas which have been defined as having potential interest concerning the industrial use of the property.

The results of our testing were not promising. The area north of the shop was heavily disturbed in the twentieth century, probably in connection with the restorations of the property. The same holds true for the western half of the orchard. The artifacts that were recovered in this area were all of twentieth century origin, and scattered within a consistent grey loam layer that extended from present grade to the subsoil clay. The eastern portion of the orchard area adjacent to Palace Green, appears to be somewhat less disturbed. There, shovel tests revealed several intact soil layers containing 18th century artifacts. The Frenchman's Map shows one outbuilding-sized structure within this area; perhaps these artifacts relate to this building. Although Jimmy Knight's excavations on the Deane property did not reveal traces of any of the four buildings shown along the northern and western edges of the lot on the Frenchman's Map, these structures have been reconstructed on the Robert Carter property.

We have included a budget for one day of further work on the property. This would entail machine stripping the disturbed portion of the orchard area to determine whether any features remain cutting through subsoil. Additionally, several one meter squares would be placed in the eastern portion of the orchard and north of the shop to determine archaeological potential there. If time permits, we could place a machine cut in the ravine to the west of the shop, to see if soil layers containing shop debris are located there. A preliminary walkover survey of the stream bed did not reveal any artifacts eroding from the banks, but it is likely that this would have been the area used for garbage disposal by the shop.

We would use the results of this testing to decide whether further excavation would be necessary, and the cost of this work. Please call us if you have any questions about this budget.