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Author Archives: midblogger
…And we’re live!
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online We want to welcome you to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Midden Project website. This website was created to present artifacts excavated from the eighteenth-century South Grove Midden archaeological site. The South Grove … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology
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Native American Layers, Recording and Filling In – 1994, The Final Year
By Esther White / Director of Historic Preservation & Research After the excitement and discoveries in the midden during 1993, the 1994 field season was somewhat anticlimactic. During 1993, we excavated fairly intensively from June until early November, removing the … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Excavation
Tagged archaeology, excavation, flakes, Late Archaic, lithics, Native Americans, plan view, rhyolite, south grove
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“Party Layers” — The 1993 Excavation
By Esther White/ Director of Historic Preservation & Research With the beginning of the 1993 field season Mount Vernon’s archaeologists were finally ready to excavate the large kitchen midden located to the south of George Washington’s Mansion. We welcomed all … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Excavation
Tagged 1993, 309, excavation, midden, profile, stoneware jug
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Cheers to the Mystery Midden!
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online To commemorate the midden excavations in 1992, Mount Vernon’s archaeologists designed canned drink cozies. They were so popular, the sold out almost immediately to staff, volunteers, and fellow archaeologists at our … Continue reading
Posted in Artifacts
Tagged brick drain, copper alloy, denier gauge, hinge, mugs, wine bottle seal
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Telling Time in the Midden Part 1: Record Keeping
Luke J. Pecoraro, Assistant Archaeologist Working in close proximity to visitors when we conduct fieldwork at Mount Vernon prompts many questions about what we’re doing, why we’re digging, and how we know how old the deposits are that we dig … Continue reading
A Big Drain Needs a Big Builder’s Trench – The 1992 Excavation
By Esther White / Director of Archaeology June 1992 and we were ready to DIG THE MIDDEN after a field season of utility lines and other modern intrusions, but the process of historical archaeology is sometimes slower than we expect. … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Excavation
Tagged brick drain, builder's trench, excavation, Gallaudet University, midden, plaster, well house
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Not ANOTHER Utility Line?! The 1991 Excavation
Esther White / Director of Archaeology After opening square 328 at the end of the 1990 excavation season and spending the winter cataloguing and analyzing the artifacts, we were more than ready to return to the south grove in June … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Excavation
Tagged 1991, artifacts, excavation, field school, Gallaudet University, George Mason University, midden, south grove
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What’s in a Name? Defining George Washington’s Rubbish
Luke J. Pecoraro, Assistant Archaeologist In almost every blog post we use the word “midden” to describe the archaeological deposit in the South Grove. But why call it a midden? Why not the South Grove Trash Dump, or Washington’s Landfill? … Continue reading
1990 – The Excavation Begins (or the year of the Holly Hole)
Esther White / Director of Archaeology There’s a simple principle that guides a lot of archaeological research – archaeologists routinely find trash near where it was generated. So in 1990, Mount Vernon’s archaeologists were scheduled to begin a multi-year excavation … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Excavation
Tagged artifacts, field school, holly hole, midden, south grove
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Spotlight on Nichole Zang!
We asked our hardworking e-tern Nichole some questions about her experience transcribing store accounts. Here’s what she said! -What are you studying at Stevenson University? Was an internship required as part of your studies? I am currently a senior Public … Continue reading
