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This
week saw continued excavation of the blacksmith shop. What appears to
be part of the north wall was found. Rather than a 90-degree corner, it
is angled. Another unit will be put in to see how far it continues.
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Part
of the back wall (bottom left) and the 'corner,' continuing to the
northeast.
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Excavation at the forge has
continued to uncover the stratigraphy created with the construction of
the second forge (see photo from Week 3). Digging at the back of the forge
revealed what was probably the surface level after the Civil War, followed
by what looked to be subsoil. However, that subsoil contained trace amounts
of slag and charcoal, so it was excavated to reveal another surface that
probably dates to before the War. This layer had dense metal artifacts
and charcoal. After this level was the true subsoil, devoid of all artifacts.
Another interesting aspect of the earlier surface layer is the appearance
of charcoal, rather than coal, which is at the above layers. This represents
the adoption of changing technologies. During the last quarter of the
19th century coal became the dominant fuel used by blacksmiths (Light
1987). This is a significant find in the reconstruction of operations
here.
Another
project started this week was testing the plausibility of using GPS
to make a topographic map of the Hollow. Once processed, it will be
determined if this data is accurate enough for the intended purposes.
Right: Kat having fun with the GPS. |
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Continue to Week 5...
Light, John
D.
1987 Blacksmith Technology and Forge Construction. IA 28(3): 658-665.
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