Rediscovering Charleston's Colonial Fortifications

The excavation of the soil around the north flank of the brick redan wall continued to be the most exciting development at South Adger’s Wharf today. Continuing the work started yesterday, archaeologists Ron Anthony and Andrew Agha chased the line of the wall towards the northwest (towards East Bay Street). After several hours of careful shovel work, they succeeded in uncovering a few more feet of the wall, but the presence of an active natural gas line prohibits any further movement in that northwestward direction. Despite this obstruction, however, they uncovered sufficient amount of the redan wall to form a hypothesis about the curious structural characteristics noted yesterday afternoon.

The first part of the redan wall uncovered earlier this week is five feet wide with an outward slope on the outer face. Yesterday we discovered that the northwestward continuation of the wall is only three and a half feet wide (not four feet as reported earlier) and is not sloped on the outer face. After uncovering another meter of the wall, it became clear that this part of the wall, the western end of the redan’s north flank, is consistently flat on the outside and three and half feet wide. Since these features appears to be more than just structural anomalies, the archaeologists and historians put their heads together to come up with a theory. We’re currently thinking that the eastern end of the redan, towards its apex, is thicker and flared outward in order to provide additional support for the brick set into the original tidal mudflat, and to help protect the redan from the ravages of storms. We’ll work on sketching a visual representation, but in the meantime it might help to imagine that the apex of the redan looks like a cross between an arrowhead and a cowcatcher on the front of an old steam locomotive.

In addition to that structural curiosity, Ron Anthony’s trowel discovered a small void in part of the outer face of the redan wall. It appears to be a small square, less than a foot on a side, that is only about eight inches deep (don’t worry, we’ll take accurate measurements soon!). What was the purpose of this cavity? Was it a notch left for a beam? Was it a step used by brick masons climbing the outer face of the wall during its construction three hundred years ago? Hmm. Any ideas?

Volunteers have been screening dirt for artifacts every day and finding beautiful old pieces of the past. We don’t have time or space for a full gallery of the objects, but today I’m offering images of two of my favorite finds from today’s screening. I’m afraid I can’t identify their type or age—I’ll leave that up to the archaeologists! These ceramic objects, imported by ship from Europe, display some of the most interesting colors and patterns. It’s so rewarding to pull these little gems from the obscurity of the dark soil!

One of the top priorities for today’s activity at the South Adger’s Wharf dig was chasing the northwestward continuation of the brick redan to the point where it connects with the brick curtain wall along East Bay Street. Under the watchful eye of archaeologists Eric Poplin and Ron Anthony, the backhoe scooped out more fill until the top of the redan was seen, and then the shovel work began. After an hour or so of hand digging, the archaeologists uncovered the continuation of the five-foot wide brick redan. As expected, it lies in a northwest diagonal line, and is located on the northwest side of a four-foot wide brick drain (probably dating from the 1850s) that slices directly through the remnants of the redan. Later in the afternoon, after further fill material was removed, the crew discovered that the continuation of the redan on the northwest side of the brick drain is not quite the same as the portion uncovered earlier. The five-feet-wide wall makes a sudden transition to a four-feet width, and the slight outward slope of the wall disappears. A brief downward probe revealed the presence of a slightly wider footing, and then the resumption of the outward slope. Hmm, very curious! Further digging and three-dimensional sketching will be required to sort out these puzzling characteristics.

Two additional factors complicate the picture in the west end of Trench 2. First, there is a large amount of brick rubble just east (i.e., outside) of the redan. Poplin and Anthony don’t seem phased by this rubble—they’re confident that it represents the demolition of the redan in 1785. Second, there is a significant amount of debris representing the extension of the “Lower Market” over the redan fragments in 1786. Archaeologist Martha Zierden is very excited about exploring this material, and soon will be working carefully through the surviving brick floor of the old market and sifting its contents.

About mid-morning Charleston’s mayor, Joseph P. Riley Jr., paid an executive visit to the site. Katherine Saunders, co-chair of the Walled City Task Force, provided a brief tour, and archaeologist Martha Zierden explained some of the interesting features uncovered so far. Mayor Riley’s keen interest in Charleston history led to the bulk of the funding for this excavation and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. We certainly hope that the enthusiastic public support for this work and the substantial amount of scientific data recovered at South Adger’s Wharf will be sufficient dividend for the city’s investment.

Thanks again to our volunteers, young and old(er)! Without their help we would miss finding so many important bits and pieces of the past that come up in the buckets of dirt.

In a dramatic contrast to the frigid weather conditions experienced last week, everyone working at the South Adger’s Wharf dig today found themselves shedding layers of clothing and reaching for the sunscreen. The warm temperatures and bright sun helped create an energetic work site, and progress was made in three main areas today.

First, archaeologists Martha Zierden and Ron Anthony from the Charleston Museum, joined by and Andrew Agha from Brockington and Associates, used hand trowels to clean up the east face of the initial trench created on Thursday, January 3d, in order to examine and document the many visible layers. Understanding the various colors and textures of these layers is crucial, and with further study they will help the archaeologists to identify and date the many episodes of fill that created the modern street bed.

Second, archaeologist Eric Poplin troweled the east end of the second trench in order to study a rubble pit that is probably associated with the demolition of the “Lower Market” in 1800. In addition, Eric has been exploring the outline of a deeply-buried arched brick drain that runs east-west through the site, and may date back to the colonial period. The massive brick remnants of the redan, uncovered last Friday at the west end of this trench, will have to wait another day for further close inspection.

Third, a number of volunteers began screening excavated dirt for artifacts. A number of ceramic and glass fragments have been found so far, representing a wide variety of forms, types, and eras. Considering that part of this site was once used as a market, it is no surprise that a number of animal bones and oyster shells have been uncovered as well. My personal favorite artifacts found so far is a pair of old leather shoes—found separately—that some old soul may have lost in the pluff mud three hundred years ago!

Further hand trowelwork and screening will continue tomorrow. On the surface it may seem that little progress was made today, but Martha Zierden remarked that she felt like the archaeological team had made substantial headway in understanding what has been uncovered so far.