2007 Excavation Site Photo Gallery

During their two weeks of Field School, George Washington University students discovered many artifacts. Among them were a small-caliber ammunition round and part of a tobacco pipe, which Parker Stratton is examining.

 

Students working in Trench 16 unearthed several shells. The practice of adorning graves with shells has been documented in both African and African-American burials.

 

The students continued working to identify a grave shaft, the hole where the coffin is place and backfilled. Using a Munsell chart, they closely monitor different colors of soil.

 

Field School students work in Trench 15, where Sara Belkin places artifacts in a bag that identifies where and when they were recovered.

 

As grave shafts are identified, archaeologists mark them with orange and yellow flagging tape. Grave shafts at this site are very difficult to discern. The shape and size of these burials help archaeologists determine whether the graves hold adults or children.

 

City archaeologists consult with each other when a pig's tooth is discovered.

 

Because the site was graded during the mid-1900s, there is a large amount of modern fill in certain areas. In Trench 16, archaeologist Tara Giuliano uses a pick axe to remove the fill and expose the historical soil.
(trench 16 shells.jpg)

 

Archaeologist Loretta Collins marks three recently discovered graves with sequential identification numbers. After this step, they are measured, photographed and marked with flagging tape.