Archaeological Survey of Prince House Woods, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Roanoke Island, North Carolina
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF PRINCE HOUSE WOODS FORT RALEIGH NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ROANOKE ISLAND, NORTH CAROLINA By: Nicholas M. Luccketti Submitted to: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Southeast Archaeological Center 2035 East Paul Dirac Drive Johnson Building, Suite 120 Tallahassee, FL 23210 ARPA Permit # FORA 2006-001 SEAC Acc. # 2092 FORA Acc. # 88 January 2007 Submitted by: FIRST COLONY FOUNDATION 1501 Cole Mill Road Durham, NC 27705 ii MANAGEMENT SUMMARY Over the past 25 years, archaeological evidence related to the 16th-century Raleigh settlements on Roanoke Island in North Carolina has been found intermittently on the beach at the north end of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site between the Waterside Theater and the Prince House. These artifacts include an iron ax of 16th- century form, sherds of Iberian storage jar, and in the shallow water, an intact barrel buried and a hollowed out log which both radiocarbon dated to the 16th century. Furthermore, the exposed bluff in this area is subject to continual erosion, thus endangering any archaeological resources that may be present. Accordingly, the First Colony Foundation conducted a survey in October of 2006 to determine the potential for any significant archaeological features, strata, or artifact concentrations related to either the 1585 Lane Colony or the 1587 Lost Colony in the area between the edge of the bluff and the north end of the main parking lot. The 2006 fieldwork consisted of the excavation of test units along a transect that was located about 100’ behind the edge of the bluff. Additional test units were excavated along a foot path to the beach and in the dunes along the beach. A total of 23 test units were excavated during the survey. The test units were all 1.5 meter squares with the exception of two test trenches. Several 16th-century European ceramics found on the beach also were recorded during the survey. No 16th-century European artifacts, features, or strata were found in the test units. One sherd of Sevillian olive jar was found on the beach, and three sherds of 16th-century European pottery previously found on the beach were recorded. A concentration of late 19th-century artifacts was found in two test units, and a single layer in one of the test trenches yielded 68 sherds of Colington pottery, probably from a single vessel. The ARPA permit number of this project is FORA 2006-001. The FORA accession number of this project is FORA 88 and the SEAC accession number for this project is SEAC 2092. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS MANAGEMENT SUMMARY.........................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CONTEXT.......................................................................................................................... 4 Historical Background .................................................................................................... 4 Archaeological Background: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site ................................. 6 Archaeological Background: Prince House Woods........................................................ 7 2006 RESEARCH DESIGN............................................................................................. 12 Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 12 Methods......................................................................................................................... 12 Expected Results........................................................................................................... 13 FIELDWORK RESULTS................................................................................................. 15 Test Unit 1................................................................................................................. 15 Test Unit 2................................................................................................................. 16 Test Unit 3................................................................................................................. 16 Test Unit 4................................................................................................................. 17 Test Unit 5................................................................................................................. 18 Test Unit 6................................................................................................................. 19 Test Unit 7................................................................................................................. 20 Test Unit 8................................................................................................................. 21 Test Unit 9................................................................................................................. 22 Test Unit 10............................................................................................................... 23 Test Unit 11............................................................................................................... 24 Test Unit 12............................................................................................................... 25 Test Unit 13............................................................................................................... 26 Test Unit 14............................................................................................................... 27 Test Unit 15............................................................................................................... 28 Test Unit 16............................................................................................................... 30 Test Unit 17............................................................................................................... 31 Test Unit 18............................................................................................................... 31 Test Unit 19............................................................................................................... 31 Test Unit 20............................................................................................................... 32 Test Unit 21............................................................................................................... 33 Test Unit 22............................................................................................................... 34 Test Unit 23............................................................................................................... 35 Test Unit 24............................................................................................................... 37 Test Unit 25............................................................................................................... 37 SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... 38 REFERENCES CITED..................................................................................................... 40 Appendix A....................................................................................................................... 43 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island (Harrington 1962). ...................... 2 Figure 2. Detail of Raleigh’s ‘Map of Virginia’ by John White (Hulton 1984)................ 5 Figure 3. Location of Harrington test trenches at Fort Raleigh (Harrington 1962)........... 8 Figure 4. J.C. Harrington surveying mechanically stripped exploratory trenches in parking lot at Fort Raleigh (Fort Raleigh National Historic Site). ..................... 8 Figure 5. Location of 1982 survey test squares and transects (Phelps 1982) .................... 9 Figure 6. Location of probable 16th-century barrel-lined well in the shallow water off of the Prince House Woods. The two NPS rangers are photographing the submerged remains of the barrel (Phillip Evans).............................................. 10 Figure 7. Detail of barrel in shallow water off the Prince House Woods (Phillip Evans). .......................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 8. Location of Sevillian olive jar sherd near feature in bluff below Prince House Woods. .............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 9. 2006 FCF survey showing transect behind dune ridge, facing west. ............... 13 Figure 10. Location of Test Units, Prince House Woods, FCF survey, October, 2006... 15 Figure 11. North Profile of Test Unit 3............................................................................ 16 Figure 12. Test Unit 4 excavated to the surface of layer 4.5. .......................................... 17 Figure 13. Excavation of Test Unit 5.............................................................................. 18 Figure 14. North profile of Test Unit 6............................................................................ 19 Figure 15. North profile of Test Unit