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PRESS RELEASE
November 3, 2023
The George Washington Foundation
1201 Washington Ave, Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Contact: Lori Pikkaart, Marketing & Communications Manager
Pikkaart@gwffoundation.org / 540-373-3381 x 1024
Ferry Farm Finds Answers - and More Questions - in Summer Archaeological Dig
“Ferry Farm doesn’t give up its secrets easily, but it gives up amazing secrets when it does,” Senior Archaeologist Dave Muraca’s words sum up the summer’s dig quite well. One might believe that we already know all there is to know about George Washington, but as long as archaeologists continue to uncover artifacts from his life, we will continue to learn new details about the Washingtons and the people who lived and worked at Ferry Farm. This summer's dig involved the excavation of two separate areas: FF-38 and FF-40.
“FF-38 started with small expectations, but they kept growing as the summer went on. The pit was filled with really nice artifacts we haven’t seen before, that clearly date to the Washington period,” Muraca said in an interview with Ted Schubel on NewsTalk 1230 WFVA. Archaeologists uncovered an unknown feature which measures about 10’x16’, most likely a period structure from the Washington Farm. The soil at the bottom is organic and was sent to a paleo botanist to analyze it for 18th-century seeds.
The soil’s layers provided an awe-inspiring mix of artifacts to include a little bit of everything: personal items, food-related items, architectural debris, domestic items, and more. The crowning glory of the excavation was a complete pipe bowl stamped with a maker’s mark with the initials “TD.” Other finds include a clipped Spanish coin, sherds to a Westerwald ink well, shark teeth, and prehistoric pottery. This feature also contained a layer of ash that preserved delicate artifacts such as bone, fish scales, and straight pins – items that often don’t survive in the archaeological record.
As to the identity of the feature, lack of a fireplace suggests it wasn’t a domestic dwelling, but it could be another type of plantation outbuilding, such as a storage building, shed, or barn. The edges are almost vertical, and the floor is relatively flat. There is no silt so the pit was covered while it was open. It is too regular to be a quarry pit used to harvest clay as a building material. Ferry Farm will expand this dig next summer to make a definitive confirmation on what the structure is.
Area FF-40 contains the remains of an 18th-century kitchen that had experienced an intense fire. This kitchen was partially excavated in the 1990s, so this year’s excavation was exploratory to establish a plan for future excavation. The kitchen remains were below the foundations of two later farmhouses, and the foundation walls of these farmhouses were still extant and had been filled with sand to protect the site. Once the crew got through the sandy fill, the artifacts showed evidence of a fire that burned at extremely high temperatures. There were a high number of architectural artifacts as well as charred ceramics and melted glass. Findings from this year will help guide future excavation.
What’s so significant about archaeological digs at Ferry Farm? Archaeological discovery changes the narrative of the Washingtons and how they and other residents occupied the site. Since precious little was penned about Washington’s childhood and life on Ferry Farm, archaeology helps fill in some of the gaps, and sometimes adds the unexpected to the narrative, such as intense fires … and wig curlers. Ferry Farm has the highest concentration of wig curlers of any archaeological site.
Dig a little deeper and discover the power of archaeology. Reflecting on the beginnings of archaeology at Ferry Farm, Muraca says, “It’s a little embarrassing, as our goals were when we started, well maybe we can say something new about the Washingtons. And now it’s like, ok, of course we can. It’s a brand-new data set to a subject that we had very limited information about. We know so much more about the Washingtons than when we started as a community and that information is getting out in the new biographies. Mary Washington’s narrative has totally changed. Our interpretation has progressed the farthest with her because that one was quite incorrect. All the things biographers said about Mary Washington were mostly wrong, and we uncovered overwhelming evidence that it was wrong. Web pages are changing, and the latest books are changing, and are much more kind to her – and more accurate.”
Whether it’s history or her-story, archaeology at Ferry Farm continues to unearth new facts – and new mysteries – that haven’t been divulged for hundreds of years.
Details on the mechanics of the summer 2023 dig are in The George Washington Foundation’s Lives & Legacies dig season recap blog.
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