Post 6. Basement Revelations

As the Hunter Research archaeologists reached the halfway mark for the Stage 3 survey, their attention was drawn to the basement of the Daniel Rutan House. They placed six excavation units within the building’s footprint to examine the floor deposits. Screening of these soils revealed a moderate number of fragmentary historic artifacts including many pieces of ceramic representative of the entirety of the site’s occupation from the 1750s to the early 1900s. Hunter Research identified several square and circular postholes within the basement floor. Archaeologists attributed the multiple postholes as evidence of efforts to support the house’s floor joists.

Archaeologists dug two additional excavation units along the south foundation wall and identified a shallow ovoid pit filled with blackened soil and encircled by several lens of heat affected subsoil. Hunter Research interpreted this feature as a fire pit, given its small size and shallow depth. Archaeologists recovered 238 historic artifacts and a large amount of charcoal from the pit. A nearby stout, dry-laid stone footing suggested the former location a first-floor hearth or an interior stairway.