Fort Mifflin Archaeology

A couple of friends shared with me that Eternal Soldier was hosting archaeology on Fridays and Saturdays in October at Fort Mifflin. I really appreciate the information!

Erring on the side of caution, I signed up for only one session. Unlike my experiences at Newlin Grist Mill, these sessions were from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. That's a long day, especially factoring in an hour drive in each direction. 

What if I don't like the people? What if the work is too hard? 

Last week I drove past the site on my way home from West Chester, PA. Fort Mifflin is located directly next to the Philadelphia Airport.

What if it is too loud? 

Dan, my archaeology buddy, signed up for some of the days. We were able to dig together, which eased my mind about what if they don't like me? Dan has worked with Max, the leader on this project, and always has nice things to say about her. Dan has nice things to say about a lot of people.

I arrived at 8:30 am. Some came after me. After orientation explaining the history of Fort Mifflin from its early days as a Revolutionary War site through to its involvement in the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, followed by what we can expect to find and the jobs needed, we were set free to dig!

Our first job was to bail the water out of the test unit that was started last week. I was so glad I did not sign up for week 1 because that is when they have to pull off the top layer of grass and mark out the site. Tedious work that yields no artifacts. Week two should be more exciting.

After bailing water, Dan and I took the drier end of the test unit and started to dig. Pretty quickly he found a bricked off spot. A feature. A feature is a subsection of a test unit. It is handled separately. It could be the remnants of posts that used to be a fence. Rarely are they as defined as the box of bricks Dan discovered. One brick had the marking: WARCO XX, another said 18x12. We got excited when it said 18, hoping it would be followed by a year, but alas no, it was just the size. This area will be studied closer to figure out what it is.

Our test units are 2 meters by 2 meters. Every place uses different measurements. At one point I was helping Chelsea measure how far down we were before we could continue digging deeper. They measure in metric. Keith at Newlin Grist Mill prefers engineering method of ten units per foot. As with many things in life, there is no wrong answer, but you have to be consistent. 

Each unit was assigned a different color bucket to help the volunteers keep track of what they were digging and where to put the artifacts. It mostly helped, but there were times it added to the confusion, especially with regards to the feature since that then needed a separate color bucket.

Within two scrapings of the trowel I found a bullet casing. That generated a bunch of excitement, until they verified it was used as part of WWII reenactment exercises. If it was live ammunition we would have to shut down the project until someone from Fort Mifflin could study the situation. Similar to when human remains are found.

The day was beautiful. A little warm for October (in the low 80s, and sunny). As we dug on the dry side, the other side of the test unit started to fill in with water again. Yes, the Delaware River is tidal and the tide was rolling in. This will make for challenging digger. There was another unit that was completely in the shade, Dan and I have dibs on that for next time, as returning volunteers we know where the better spot is.

I explained to Chelsea I know just enough to be dangerous. I'm not afraid of digging, or getting dirty, or any of the jobs that are needed to be done, but I don't know everything. By the afternoon Max was teaching me the right way to trowel and insisting I recognize the difference in soil changes (eventually I just smiled and nodded, it all looks like dirt to me). 

We broke for lunch for an hour at 1 pm. It was hard returning to digging at 2. I know I slowed down. A lot. I noticed other volunteers slipping away. By 3 pm I was ready to pack it in for the day. The schedule said we were supposed to keep going until 3:45. Chelsea recognized the need to keep volunteers happy so we come back. I started packing things up, but got overzealous and had to return shovels because a couple were still needed. That sort of thing.

It was a fun day. I'm already planning a return later this month.

I gained an appreciation for our weekly digs at NGM. We are never in a rush, and we have the flexibility to change our minds. The project at Fort Mifflin has strict guidelines. Even though the brick says 18x12 and we can only see 12x12 of it, they won't dig another text pit next to it to see how it continues. Maybe in a future year, but not this one. The project has to wrap up by the end of the month. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and they won't lose time to either the elements, or to finding live ammunition.

<<--bottle found at Newlin Grist Mill last week.