The Archaeology of Rich Neck Plantation (44WB52): Description of the Features David Muraca Philip Levy Leslie McFaden 2003 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series ­ 0386 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Williamsburg, Virginia 2009 The Archaeology of Rich Neck Plantation (44WB52): Description of the Features by David Muraca Philip Levy Leslie McFaden The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Department of Archaeological Research P.O. Box 1776 Williamsburg, VA 23187­1776 (757) 220­7330 Marley R. Brown III Principal Investigator January 2003 i Page Chapter 1. Introduction 1 The Site 8 Chapter 2. George Menefie Ownership (ca. 1635­1636) 11 Chapter 3. Richard and Elizabeth Kemp Ownership (1636­1650) 15 Archaeological Features 17 Structure A (Richard Kemp's dwelling house) 17 Structure B (The Kitchen) 21 Kiln 23 Enclosures 26 Refuse Middens 31 Discussion 31 Structures Made of Brick 31 Protection 32 Landscape Design 33 Chapter 4. Sir Thomas and Lady Elizabeth Lunsford Ownership (1650­1653) 37 Archaeological Features 40 Structure G (Agricultural Shed) 40 Enclosures 42 Discussion 43 Chapter 5. Thomas Ludwell Ownership (1665­1677) 47 Archaeological Features 48 Structure A (Thomas Ludwell's Dwelling) 49 Kitchen/Quarter/Workspace 52 The Additions 60 Discussion 66 Post Structures 66 Structure D 70 Structures E and F 71 Structure H 73 Watering Hole 75 The Human Burial 75 Enclosures 77 Trash Disposal 77 Discussion 77 Grazing Area 79 Structure H 79 Courtyard Plan 85 ii Chapter 6. Philip Ludwell/Philip Ludwell II Occpancy and Ownership (1674­1694) 87 Archaeological Features 87 Dwelling House 87 The Rest of the Site 89 Discussion 90 Afterword 93 References 95 Appendix 1. Description of the Rich Neck Burial 99 iii Page 1.Rich Neck site before excavation 1 2.Logging truck driving through the site 2 3.Students working on site 3 4.Single 1 meter square 5 5.Removal of 25 percent of the plowzone 6 6.Removal of 50 percent of the plowzone 6 7.Removal of all of the plowzone 7 8.Excavation areas 7 9.Rich Neck Plantation 8 10.Features discovered at Rich Neck 9 11.Typical stratigraphy 9 12.Middle Plantation 11 13.Three sites found near Archers Hope Creek 13 14.Kemp's Rich Neck plat 15 15.Kemp's Jamestown House 16 16.Distribution of 9/64­inch diameter pipestems 18 17.Kemp's Rich Neck 18 18.Dwelling house 19 19.Kemp's dwelling house 19 20.Closeup of central fireplace 20 21.Kitchen/quarter 21 22.Kemp's portion of the kitchen 22 23.Closeup of fireplace 23 24.Closeup of bake oven 24 25.John Page's brick kiln 25 26.Half excavated small clay quarry pit 25 27.Successful quarry pit 26 28.First trench through quarry pit 27 29.Slot fence connecting kitchen to main E­W fence 27 30.Plan of garden area 28 31.Plan view of planting hole 29 32.Excavated section of bounding ditch 29 33.Detail of main E­W fence 30 34.Richard Kemp bottle seal 31 35.Bartmann bottle 31 36.John Page house 32 37.Nassau Street cellar 33 38.Landscape zones 34 iv 39.Distribution of flower pot fragments 35 40.Overview of Page site 36 41.Lunsford portrait 37 42.Lunsford's Rich Neck 40 43.Overview of Structure G 41 44.Structure G 42 45.Phytolith distribution 44 46.Distribution of phosphorous 44 47.Distribution of calcium 44 48.Distribution of maize phytoliths 44 49.Thomas Ludwell's Rich Neck 47 50.Dwelling during Thomas Ludwell period 49 51.Rear room additions 50 52.Reconstruction of Rich Neck, circa 1670 50 53.Model of Rich Neck dwelling as a two­story structure 51 54.Closeup of exterior chimney 51 55.Fireplace tiles featuring children playing games 52 56.Pantile roof 53 57.Kitchen/quarter/work building 53 58.Overall of kitchen 54 59.Kitchen center room 55 60.Closeup of root cellar showing postholes 56 61.Detail of root cellar showing reinforcing postholes 57 62.Detail of root cellar notches 58 63.Detail of hearth floor before excavation 59 64.Fireplace floor during excavation 59 65.Fireplace floor after excavation 61 66.South cellar overview 62 67.Closeup of sump and brick pad 63 68.North cellar overview 63 69.Closeup of where stairs tied into floor 65 70.Closeup of two work pits 65 71.Distribution of plaster 67 72.Distribution of curtain rings, candlesticks, and candlesnuffers 67 73.Plan view of Structure C 68 74.Overall of Structure C 69 75.Plan view of Structure D 70 76.Overall of Structure D 71 77.Plan view of Structures E and F 72 78.Overall of Structures E and F 72 v 79.Plan view of Structure H 74 80.Overall of Structure H 74 81.Plan view of watering hole 76 82.Human burial 76 83.Distribution of 7/64­inch diameter pipestems 80 84.Paniciod distribution 80 85.Chloridoid distribution 81 86.Distribution of plaster around the dwelling 81 87.Distribution of aiglets, curtain rings, locks, keys, and spurs around the dwelling 82 88.Closeup of repairs to Structure H 84 89.Overview of Ludwell's courtyard plan 85 90.Philip/Philip II's Rich Neck 85 91.Brick by brick of dwelling house 86 92.Cellar of the last room added to the dwelling 89 93.Pipe tamp 90 94.Slot fences cutting Structure F posthole 90 95.Location of Rich Neck's satellite slave quarter 91 96.Overall of 1740s Rich Neck slave quarter 92 97.John Coombs excavating Structure A cellar 94 98.Excavating kitchen cellar 94 Page Table 1. Presence or absence of selected artifacts 84 vi 1 Chapter 1. Introduction In 1988, two boys found several artifacts while playing on a road construction site that was part of a new housing development (Figure 1). Accompanied by their parents, the boys brought their finds into Colonial Williamsburg's archaeology laboratory to see if the fragments were important. The curators at the lab are frequently called on to identify recently unearthed objects, most of which turn out to be modern castoffs. Once in a great while, however, someone comes in with an artifact that is an impressive example of colonial craftsmanship or that has a significant provenience. What the boys found fell into the latter category, and their visit would trigger a massive archaeological investigation that would take eight years to complete. It had been a long­standing research goal of Colonial Williamsburg's Department of Archaeological Research (D.A.R.) to investigate the colonial plantations that surrounded Williamsburg, and the date of manufacture for the artifacts found by the children indicated they had stumbled onto one. An excavation team dispatched to explore the housing development quickly uncovered other artifacts and architectural remains associated with a seventeenth­century plantation known as Rich Neck near where the boys were playing, as well as the remains of an early nineteenth­century slave quarter. In 1992, McCale Development Corporation planned to develop the area as part of the Holly Hills residential development, and as part of their proffer to the city they contracted with the D.A.R. to evaluate the archaeological significance of the seventeenth­century site (Figure 2). Test units, placed at 10 meter intervals, uncovered several artifact concentrations and the remains of a brick foundation. That brickwork Figure 1. Rich Neck site before excavation. 2 Figure 2. Logging truck driving through the site. later proved to be only one of a number of structures located on Rich Neck's homelot (Muraca 1993). Even though the site had been plowed throughout the nineteenth century and later logged in the early 1900s, it was still in excellent shape. Recognizing the scale and importance of these findings, Colonial Williamsburg, the McCale Development Corporation, and the City of Williamsburg agreed to sponsor efforts to excavate the site. Colonial Williamsburg accordingly made plans to use its summer field school, run in conjunction with the College of William & Mary, to accomplish the task (Figure 3). The excavation was originally conceived as a salvage operation that would last only ten weeks. Midway through the summer, however, it became apparent that completion within this time frame was impossible given the growing size and complexity of the site. In response, McCale adjusted property boundaries so that the site's major components could be encompassed within two lots, which the City and Colonial Williamsburg then purchased and agreed to sell when the excavation was completed. The developer established two rules which were in effect for the entire dig. No machinery was to be used and no live trees with a diameter greater than 4 inches could be cut down. With a new schedule in place, the field school spent the remainder of the first summer investigating features outside of the purchased lots, and after the field school was over, a professional crew continued this work for an additional two months. From 1994 through 2000 field schools returned to work at the site for ten weeks each summer. In 1998, Colonial Williamsburg sold its lot to individuals interested in preserving the site permanently. The city has just recently sold its parcel as well, but with a protective easement to shield the surviving architectural remains from destruction during the lot's development. 3 Figure 3. Students working on site. Also found at the site was a slave quarter that was part of eighteenth­century Rich Neck. It was located on the northern edge of the seventeen­century complex and was excavated in 1994 and 1995 by Maria Franklin and Anna Agbe­Davies. Separate reports exist for these excavations (Franklin 1997; Agbe­ Davies 1999).