GENERAL FILLS

Several general fill proveniences were used throughout the field season. These designate artifacts found in a general area but unassociated with a specific artifact assemblage. This often represents material displaced by environmental processes operating on the site after the vessel sank. Many broken packing boxes found in the cargo hold help explain the random distribution of artifacts found in the area.

In preparation to enter the cargo hold, sediment from the main deck was removed. Artifact material in this sediment is designated Recovery 65. To begin the cargo hold excavation, the area below the deck opening was cleared to create a working space inside the ship. The space follows the boundary of the 1989 excavation, tapering from top to bottom and measuring roughly 7 feet long and 4 feet wide at the lower deck level. Material found in this space during the initial phase of the excavation is designated Recovery 66. Later during the field season the bottom of this space was cleared again as Recovery 90. Figure 27 shows the location of the general provenience recoveries inside the aft cargo hold.


RECOVERY 065
Type: general fill, disturbed.
Location: river bottom sediment above the main deck. The position is measured from the site datum at the bow; 130-145 feet aft/0-12 feet port.
Diagnostic Artifacts: 1 deck beam, 1 deck plank, modern bottles and cans.
Discussion: this recovery includes material found on the main deck and in the overlying sediment around the cargo entry hole. The hole was cut in the deck in 1988/89 to gain access to the aft cargo hold. After several years of site work, this sediment has been excavated then redeposited by the river numerous times. The timbers were recovered as part of the wreck, modern debris was discarded.

RECOVERY 066
Type: general fill, disturbed.
Location: inside the aft cargo hold below the deck opening.
Diagnostic artifacts: 2 leather shoe fragments, 3 bucket staves, 3 folding chair parts, 2 field desk parts, 2 white glass buttons, 2 wooden buttons, 1 tin button, 1 brass button, 1 New York State coat button, 2 general service coat buttons, beer cans, and plastic fragments.
Discussion: this location is the area directly under the deck opening created in 1988/89. It includes all the space excavated during previous years and extends from the main deck to the lower deck. This area tapers with depth extending widely under the main deck in the upper levels, narrowing to a cleared space on the lower deck measuring approximately 7 by 4 feet. The area was originally excavated in 1988/89 and allowed to refill naturally. It has been excavated several more times and refilled by river action. The artifacts found in the fill include site material that has fallen out of the walls and modern debris. Modern material was deposited because past excavations did not use a barrier to exclude river-borne debris.

RECOVERY 069
Type: general fill, undisturbed.
Location: sediment below the deck beam on the east side of the entry hole.
Diagnostic Artifacts: bucket stave, furniture leg, assorted corks.
Discussion: the loose artifacts in this sediment have fallen out of containers. Parts from packing containers are also included in this group. The corks, however, appear as a distinct group within this recovery.

RECOVERY 090
Type: general fill
Location: a layer 6 to 12 inches thick on the lower deck below the deck opening.
Diagnostic Artifacts: a fragment of a wooden picture or mirror frame, cigar box, silver plated spoon, trunk lock backplate, pewter candle holder, 1 musket ball (.69 cal. as measured), 2 Minie' balls (.58 cal. as measured), earthenware jar lid, sunglasses, pewter faucet, toothbrush, domino, wooden pipe bowl, bayonet blade, candle holder, rubber blanket, coatee button, 3 New York State coat buttons, 3 New York State cuff buttons, 1 general service coat button, 1 cavalry cuff button, 7 white glass buttons, 3 wooden buttons.
Discussion: this provenience covers roughly the same horizontal area as the lower level of Recovery 66. The artifacts were displaced by work inside the cargo hold and removed while policing the excavation.

RECOVERY 091
Type: general fill in part of the new excavation trench.
Location: an area measuring roughly 6 by 4 feet on the lower deck.
Diagnostic Artifacts: picture frame, brush fragments, officer's bar insignia, gold pendent, watch fob, lice comb, wooden finger ring, musket nipple, .69 cal. Minie' ball, brass hinge, shoe, rubber blanket, tin pot lid, canteen fragment, 3 general service coat buttons, 2 general service cuff buttons, 1 New York State cuff button, 1 cavalry coat button, 1 cavalry cuff button, 1 white glass/gold button, 1 blue glass button, 11 wooden buttons, 7 tin buttons,
Discussion: this general fill encompasses the area where most of the intact artifact recoveries were made in 1993. Specifically, the loose artifacts are probably associated with recoveries 070, 078, 079, 080, 081, 083, 084, 088, and 089.

RECOVERY 093
Type: artifact cluster
Location: the cluster is centered 11 feet south/1.0 feet east and located on the lower deck.
Diagnostic Artifacts: bottom to a round wooden box, cigar box fragment, "traveler's ink well", 17 shells, cap pouch, shoe fragment.
Discussion: these artifacts are included as a general provenience because they cannot be tied to a specific artifact group. They probably fell out of one or more containers in the surrounding space.