We have two weeks left on the archaeology project that’s taking place on Fleet and Cornhill Streets in Historic Annapolis. So far our most exciting find has been a series of logs which were discovered about 4 and a half feet below the current sidewalk level at the bottom of Fleet Street near the City Dock. These logs date to the late 17
th or early 18
th century and could be evidence of an earlier road surface or possibly part of a ramp or dock that helped people to navigate what would have been a marshy area. We have started digging in a new area that is about 30 feet from the unit where the logs were discovered. We are hoping to get some idea of how far the logs extend so we can better understand what this surface would have been used for.
Because this is such an exciting find I plan to post frequent updates on the progress of the excavation.
Here is a photo of the bottom of Fleet Street taken from the area of the new excavation. We have filled in, and replaced the sidewalk in the area where the logs were found.
That unit was located between the telephone pole in the foreground and the potted shrub on the left of the photo. Looking down Fleet Street the building straight ahead is the Market House and just beyond that is City Dock.
Here is a photo of the new unit we just opened. As archaeologists we excavate by level. So every time the soil changes we call that a new layer. The idea is that each of these layers represents a distinct event or point in time. The period of time associated with each of these layers can vary greatly from a single event such as a layer of ash left from a fire to a longer “event” such as a thick layer of silty soil left from years of runoff being deposited in the same place.
As you can see in the photo we took out an area of the brick sidewalk and went through a layer of hard gravely material. Now we have a level of sand that is probably a bedding layer that was put down to level out the ground before the sidewalk was put in. Hopefully the rain will let up so we can keep digging tomorrow.
Everyone is invited to come watch the excavations and to ask questions. We will be there for the next two weeks Tuesday through Saturday. Be sure to check back here for frequent updates.
Here is a photo of the bottom of Fleet Street taken from the area of the new excavation. We have filled in, and replaced the sidewalk in the area where the logs were found. That unit was located between the telephone pole in the foreground and the potted shrub on the left of the photo. Looking down Fleet Street the building straight ahead is the Market House and just beyond that is City Dock.
Here is a photo of the new unit we just opened. As archaeologists we excavate by level. So every time the soil changes we call that a new layer. The idea is that each of these layers represents a distinct event or point in time. The period of time associated with each of these layers can vary greatly from a single event such as a layer of ash left from a fire to a longer “event” such as a thick layer of silty soil left from years of runoff being deposited in the same place. As you can see in the photo we took out an area of the brick sidewalk and went through a layer of hard gravely material. Now we have a level of sand that is probably a bedding layer that was put down to level out the ground before the sidewalk was put in. Hopefully the rain will let up so we can keep digging tomorrow. 
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