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Feature 4, in the area of anomaly A3, was further exposed in excavations during 2005, in Excavation Units 4-12 (adjacent to the location of Units 1-3), as shown in the image above, which includes a photographic scale in increments of feet. The artifacts found in and on top of the feature date to the 1850s. Few organic materials were detected, and there was also a lower than expected frequency of faunal material and domestic trash identified in the feature. Rock, mortar, and brick were located throughout the feature fill. These findings indicate that the feature was not open for a long enough period of time to accumulate much trash. Rather, after it was no longer in use community members rapidly filled the feature. It is probable that the original function of the pit feature is related to the early development of the town. Even though the earliest known deeds for Block 8, Lot 4, date to 1871, and the tax records from 1867 show that the lot was not improved, the archaeological evidence shows that the area was probably used as a domestic space several decades earlier. The structure was dismantled by the 1850s. Additional excavations to complete the work on Feature 4 will help determine the function of the feature and provide more information about the early lifeways in New Philadelphia. |
