Ye Pleasant Mount: 1989 1990 Excavations - Open site which ...

found in features. Small pieces of burned and unburned oyster shell were ingredients in
the mortar. In some instances, the oyster shell fragments were large and difficult to
distinguish from food debris.
A section of brick was uncovered partially in 1989 and it extended into an area that was
excavated during the 1990 season. This brick section apparently represented either a
footing for a building or a section of dismantled chimney. Bricks, daub, and mortar were
not quantified during the 1989 season, but were during the 1990 season. All of the test
units excavated during 1989 had significant amounts of these building materials sufficient
to suggest that a structure had been located nearby. Brick or daub were found in nine
features, while mortar was found in five features. Eight features contained wrought nails.
The presence ofbrick, mortar, and nails probably indicates Euro-American presence.
Bricks were not common on the Georgia frontier during the colonial period. The
scarcity of bricks was evidenced in excavations at Ebenezer and Ebenezer Mill District.
Bricks were not produced in the interior Savannah River region until 1750 when brick
manufacture began downstream at Ebenezer. At the ranger garrison of Fort Argyle on the
Ogeechee River, documents record the first use of bricks for chimneys in the barracks as
early as 1741 (Braley et al. 1985). Perhaps the same order resulted in bricks being
supplied for similar uses in the Mount Pleasant fort. While the artifacts and the brick
feature show that at least one structure was present, the complete layout remains undefined.
A total of 667 wrought nails and four spikes was found in midden contexts while 55
nails were recovered from features. Most ofthe nails came from the upper rone suggesting
an association with the Euro-American settlement. The total absence ofmachine cut square
nails, invented in 1790, throughout the Mount Pleasant site suggests that all the structures
on 9Efl69 were built before 1800. One unusual nail is illustrated in Figure 7b.
Other architecture iron hardware recovered from the midden include an iron hinge and a
lock part. None were found in feature contexts. The lock fragment was a stock lock
spring common to the eighteenth century (Figure 100).
Despite the abundance of architecturally-related artifacts found at Trader Point, no
window glass was recovered. In fact, only one piece of window glass has been recovered
from the entire site (see discussion of Area B in Chapter 3). Had the buildings in this area
had glass windows, they would have most assuredly left an archaeological trace. Window
openings probably were secured with wooden shutters or hides instead of glass panes.
The fort at Mount Pleasant was probably similar to, but smaller than Fort Argyle on the
Ogeechee River, an archaeologically identified site (Braley et al. 1985). Fort Argyle
consisted of a rectangular enclosure with four diamond bastions on the comers, each
guarded by a small cannon. The fort measured 110 feet square and had walls eight to
eleven feet high. The wooden walls of the fort were six inches thick, and this was flanked
by an outer earthen breastwork. Within the fort were two rows of barracks, a block house,
and a stable for 30 horses. Troop strength at Fort Argyle ranged from 15 to 35 rangers,
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