THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602010137
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
WHEN THE COUNTRY was still young, families living in what was to become Chesapeake were already enjoying the good life.
That's what we can infer from artifacts and items recovered during an archaeological dig at the Naval Security Group Activity Northwest Dec. 11 through Jan. 24.
History records that the family of Dr. William Happer owned 1,000 acres of land around the Ballahack Road area during the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Researchers from R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates of Frederick, Md., found that early residents were already using Battlefield Boulevard and Ballahack Road, along with the intracoastal canals, as main avenues for travel and trade.
Dr. Michael Hornum, lead archaeologist on the site, said the land investigated by his crew was part of the Happers' extensive holdings.
The family had wealth, no doubt about it.
``Records indicate that the Happers owned at least 20 slaves,'' Hornum said. ``They were a fairly well-to-do family.''
Hornum developed his opinions much the same way a police investigator forms ideas based on the tangible clues found at a crime scene. Items found at the dig site seemed to corroborate existing tax and birth records.
Researchers found shards of pressed glass from Massachusetts, expensive china from England and pieces of well-made ceramics, including creamware and pearlware, some with beautiful blue-and-green feather edging.
Other artifacts found at the site include fragments of iron tableware; copper items that could have been part of a clock; gold filigree from a garment; lots of tobacco pipes, including one with a native American face on the bowl design; and glass wine bottles from England and possibly France.
``The inhabitants of this site had access to British markets and markets up north, indicating that they were of some means,'' Hornum said. ``The material we found was high quality. They had wealth and were able to purchase large quantities of items. It seemed that the people who lived here were interested in acquiring vessels from international and regional markets. They were good quality vessels that were used for a long time.''
Hornum said he and his colleagues also found local items, including nut shells, bones of domestic and wild animals and bricks made at a local kiln.
``We're hoping some of the bones are of wild animals so we can get a look at the local wild animal population,'' he said. ``And from the other items we found, it's clear that whoever lived on the site had an interest in local products. We also found four broad hoe blades, which indicated that someone at the site was doing agricultural work.''
Who exactly lived on the site still isn't evident.
``It is clear that a family lived there (on the dig site),'' he said. ``We found what appears to be a site that may have housed a sizable building. We found what appears to be a filled-in root cellar and a filled-in basement. The Happers could have lived here or it could have been an independent work compound.''
The land could have been in the hands of Dr. William Happer's children and grandchildren, or it could have been leased to members of the Andrew McPherson family.
``McPherson was a common name around here in the early 1800s,'' Hornum said. ``Andrew McPherson was also a landowner, but he didn't own that much land. This property could have been leased to one of his many sons.''
Hornum said the site and artifacts found on the property came from the early 19th century, around the 1820s. Folks living at this time were no longer settlers or pioneers, Hornum said; they were second- and third-generation residents established on land discovered by early settlers. They were part of the indigenous population living in a very young country that had only recently won its independence from England.
``We're looking at a period right on the cusp of the industrial manufacturing age, when things became mass produced,'' he said. ``Some of the artifacts we found were long-lasting items, carefully made.''
Throughout the dig, teams of archaeologists endured cold, high winds, storms, snow and mud as they sifted through a parcel of land that will eventually become home to a new medical and dental facility, a parking lot, a gas station, a commissary and other facilities vital to a growing military facility.
But before the construction could begin, the base was required by the National Historic Preservation Act to make sure the site did not hold any significant historical clues, artifacts or items, said Pamela J. Couch, natural resources specialist with the base's public works department.
Couch said the act spells out that federal agencies have to inventory and manage cultural resources on their property. The act also makes it clear that before any construction can take place on any federal property contacts must be made with the state historic preservation office. It must then set about looking for any signs of cultural or historical resources and, if there is evidence of such items, the property must be researched. Only then can it be deemed ready for construction.
``First I met with LantDiv (Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command) archaeologist Bruce Larson so we could do a site visit,'' Couch said. ``He visited the site, and he said we have potential here. Then we started what is called a `Phase I,' which had him looking for artifacts sitting on the ground and doing shovel testing, which means taking shovel samples every few meters.''
The shovel testing yielded enough artifacts to warrant a ``phase II'' procedure, which meant extensive research and digging on the site, Couch said. The R. Christopher Goodwin company was finally called in since it was under contract with LantDiv to conduct other site explorations in and around Hampton Roads.
During the seven-week dig, Couch and Larson periodically checked on and oversaw the team's progress and findings.
Teams of up to a dozen skilled archaeologists worked on the site, usually in cold, wind, rain and shin-deep mud, far from the romantic depiction of archaeology in the ``Indiana Jones'' movies. The work was tedious, dirty and backbreaking, shoveling through clay and soil while sifting through dirt and mud looking for historical items and artifacts.
``There are some who would say this is all grunt work,'' said Anthony Randolph Jr., a field technician with the Goodwin company. ``But everyone here enjoys what they're doing.''
First, the team used a backhoe and stripped the site of the top 6 to 10 inches of topsoil. It then divided portions of the property into one-meter-by-one-meter squares, which were then dug out, layer by layer.
According to Randolph, the archaeologists draw on expert knowledge in soil identification, hydrology and stratigraphy coupled with an intimate knowledge of the history, economics, social structures, culture, agriculture and architecture of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
A look at the stack of papers shoved into a protective plastic bag showed how archaeologist Meril Dunn had taken detailed notes, taking everything into account, including soil colors and layers, sketches of the land's physical features and an inventory of what was found that day.
All of the paperwork, measurements and on-site graphs and drawings will be entered into a computer to make a composite computer graphic of the site. All of the uncovered artifacts and soil samples will be sent back up to the Goodwin company's laboratories.
``Not until all of this data is researched and analyzed will we be able to make general statements and offer observations about what we have found,'' Dunn said.
The team uncovered three cooling wells, a brick-lined root cellar, a wood-lined water cistern and dozens of items, including more ceramics, smoking pipes, another backhoe, wine bottles and earthen bowls.
``We are constantly observing as we go,'' Dunn said, standing in ankle-deep mud. ``Looking down and spotting even the smallest items is an archeological reflex.
``This will help all of us to gain more knowledge about how these people lived, how they built their dwellings, how they farmed, their architecture and systems of farming,'' Dunn said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by Mort Fryman
Muddy hands hold a piece of bone and another, unidentified piece
from the site of the dig.
Archaeologists do the backbreaking work required to map out the
excavation area.
David Olney sifts through mud at the site while Petty Officer
Stephanie Plocharczyk of the Naval Security Group Activity Northwest
looks on.<
Simple tools - a shovel, dust pan, trowel - are used in the tedious
work of moving earth a quarter-inch at a time.
by CNB