Hampton Union Local News: If these walls could talk... -
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Published on: 1/14/2003
Last Visited: 1/14/2003
The team included Dr. Neill DePaoli, a historical archaeologist, and other professional archaeologists, members of the association, local residents and students.
DePaoli says archaeologists have been aided by an inventory gathered by Benjamin James' son, documenting other property like a barn, orchards and the salt marsh.
The discoveries found at the James House property tell a story about the early inhabitants of the area and their lifestyle.DePaoli says that it is important to know that the property included the salt marsh because marsh hay was used for livestock feed and bedding.Red earthenware milk pans have been found on the property, DePaoli says, which were used to cool the fresh milk.Stoneware imported from England, also found during the archaeological excavations, shows a strong trade link between early Hampton residents and England.
DePaoli says other fragments unearthed have included "wine bottles, gin case bottles and fragments of smoking pipes."There have been between 200 and 300 fragments discovered so far.
"Machine-cut nails, from the 1850s to 1890s, indicate house and landscaping work," says DePaoli.
According to the association and DePaoli, old foundations have been uncovered that show architectural changes through the years, such as an ell section that was shortened and moved against the main house in the mid-19th century.DePaoli showed pictures of old post holes found in the west yard and a stone wall that was discovered under the ground, running along the west wall of the house.Members of the association and experts speculate on the location of a garden and how they night have used a small fenced-in yard abutting the house.Remnants of herb gardens found on the property give clues to medicinal and culinary herbs of the time.Some of the plants now grow wild on the property.
"It is a pattern in archaeology that trash and artifacts are densest near the house," says DePaoli, where inhabitants would literally toss their garbage out the door.DePaoli says that there are two types of deposits at most archaeological sites: Primary deposits are items put in the ground one time and never dug up or moved, such as a trash pit, natural hallow or privy; Secondary deposits are items that were dug up and moved to another fill.Finding the primary deposits, DePaoli says, gives archaeologists a "time capsule of what may have been going on at the time."
DePaoli says that future archaeological efforts should locate more of the primary deposits on the James House property, attempt to better understand the early farmstead, catalog and preserve the artifacts that have already been unearthed, and continue to find ways to tell the story of the James House.
Continued preservation work may also lead to more archaeological finds, DePaoli says.Work on the floors of the original structure hold promise as many items may have been disposed of under the floor boards.DePaoli also says that care must be taken during the construction to avoid harming possible artifacts.
The James House and property is open to the public on the third Sunday of every month, from May through October.Visitors to the site may take a self-guided walking tour of the grounds and house, as well as a look at the preservation work taking place and the artifacts discovered at the site.The available brochure points out details of interest and explains the work in progress.
The association also holds a number of events to celebrate the history of the site.
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