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May 15 through May 26, 2000 Lab results: The excavation of Feature 5A at the Midgette lot has a radiocarbon date of around AD 900 (early Colington phase). There is also a radiocarbon date of around AD 700 from Fea. 5B, the Hanover phase pit lying in the top of the old dune under the midden on the Midgette lot. The Brooks Island site produced two dates in the AD 500 - 600 range, just where it was thought to date. Dr. Phelps' crew for this time will be Clif Skinner and Clay Swindell again, plus graduate student Jennifer Nixon. Charles Heath will be able to come down for 4 days the second week. |
| In August of 1996 I had the honor of being asked to help out with the Croatan site dig that was being done by the Coastal Archaeology Office of East Carolina University. It was on a ridge on the sound side, about a mile from my home in Buxton Woods. I promised to work all day, every day, of the week-long project. |
 At first, the spot didn't look any different from the rest of the woods. |
| I arrived bright and early the first morning, finding the site by heading through the brush toward the voices of the ECU crew. It looked like any other spot in the live oak and pine forest, but they assured me that this was the spot to start digging. Of course, first we had to clear the brush and vines under the trees--catbriar and poison ivy mostly. Then we started digging and tossing the sand in a pile to the sides of the plotted area. After a few feet we hit the protective plastic covering put in place the last time the site was opened. That area was doubled and brought to the same level, and another area was plotted and dug as well. Now the more careful scooping and scraping with trowels had to be done. Shovelfuls and bucketfuls of darkened sand (indicating organic matter and perhaps objects of interest) were thrown up to screen-bottom trays which were shaken to lose the sand and reveal the other contents of the shovelfuls. At each level, the scientists measured and recorded their findings and sketched the site to scale. |
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| All of this activity was extremely interesting, despite the mosquito bites and poison ivy rashes. We volunteers chopped and dug and heaved and scraped and shook and sweated, but we were treated kindly, taught patiently, and thanked effusively for our help by David Phelps, Charles Heath and their archaeology students. Over the course of the week we found animal remains (deer bones and teeth, pieces of turtle carapace, fish bones, porpoise teeth, and shells of ribbed mussels, bay scallops, whelks, oysters and clams), and artifacts (Colington type pottery shards--simple stamp and fabric impression styles, stone abrading tools, pipe stems, gun flints--used for flintlock guns typical of the 17th century, and iron pieces, including nails wrought in 17th century European style.) In other words, someone's trash pile or midden. There was also a large blackened area that may have been a hearth and post molds in some pattern, indicating structures, perhaps fish drying racks or maybe a building. |
 Shells from the midden |
Post molds, filled in holes where posts once stood, indicate structures. |
| Here, in the past, someone butchered a deer or had an oyster roast or cooked a turtle stew. The researchers took all the finds and findings back to the lab for analysis. We covered the site, taking it to the level we found it. It's overgrown by now, the rest of its secrets lying dormant until the next time. I personally enjoyed being involved in the dig, but also feel this experience to be an extension of my work as Cape Hatteras School's Media Coordinator and information specialist. A liaison between the school and the scientific community has been formed. As we become more involved, with follow-up activities here at school, the students may find role models and new career interests. I want students to know that, in the pursuit of knowledge, there are many ways of gathering information and knowing. Being involved with this research expands our view of life, giving us a "time before" picture of people on Hatteras Island. |
Site of possible fireplace
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This page was created and is maintained by Nancy Cowal.
Photographs by Nancy Cowal.