Report of the Archaeological Investigations of the New Castle Court ...

NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE PLAZA
NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
3.0 FIELD RESULTS
pieces of window glass; and two delft tile fragments were also recovered. The remainder of the
assemblage consisted of 16 prehistoric items including a piece of chert shatter, nine flakes (8
jasper, 1 quartzite), a jasper scraper/plane, and five prehistoric body sherds (possibly
Minguannan).
The upper portion of the Feature 20 deposit appeared quite similar to the surrounding east terrace
deposit (SU E) and some cross-mends occurred (see Section 4). Also, a number of the later
ceramics (8 creamware, 1 pearlware, 1 Chinese export) are interpreted as intrusive into this
feature from this surrounding matrix (likely introduced when the feature stood open for a period
of time during excavation) and were discarded from the temporal data prior to calculation. The
oldest dates for any single context were obtained from this feature. A mean date of 1700.3, with a
TPQ of 1700 based on the recovery of one incised blue-on-gray Westerwald stoneware fragment
and three white tin-glazed sherds with indeterminate blue decoration. The use and subsequent
backfilling of this feature appears to date from the last quarter of the seventeenth to the first
quarter of the eighteenth century (1674.9 to 1725.6).
3.5.6 EROSION TRENCHES AND DRIP LINES
Nine features (Features 7, 23, 25, 37, 46, 79, 80, 81, and 85) were identified as representing
erosion features, such as trenches and drip lines, and over half of these features were identified
adjacent to the southeastern exterior corner of the circa 1732 block, corresponding to Features 7,
23, 79, 80, and 81 (Figure 5). This grouping of features probably signifies an enduring erosion
problem within this area. In fact, it is quite likely that erosion problems on the south face of the
Court House, exacerbated by the road grading in the early nineteenth century, were the catalyst
for the initial construction of the plaza. Three additional features (Features 25, 37, and 46),
located within the central portion of the east plaza appear to represent a similar erosion problem.
Half of these were sampled during the current and previous fieldwork and will be discussed in
further detail in the section below.
Feature 7
Feature 7 was identified as a linear feature during the 1995 fieldwork and was identified within
EU 3. The excavation notes describe it as a fill deposit sealing an erosion feature or drip line.
With an orientation paralleling the façade of the Court House its depth varies from 0.25 to 0.85 ft.
in thickness. This feature may be related to a group of erosion features identified within this area
of the plaza (corresponding to Feature 23 in EUs 4/5 and Features 79 through 81).
Feature 23
Feature 23, identified at the base of the lower sand deposit cuts into the surrounding subsoil
within EUs 4 and 5 (Plate 11). The base of this concave shaped feature measures 5.5 by 2.2 ft.
with an overall depth range of 0.2 to 0.6 ft. It slopes away from the southeast corner of the circa
1732 central block, for a general orientation that is northwest to southeast. A total of 103 artifacts
were recovered from this completely excavated feature and a TPQ of 1740 was assigned based on
the recovery of three sherds of Jackfield-type redware (context 19). The mean artifact date was
1716.7 and the feature has an occupation date range of 1689.9 to 1743.6. The rest of the
assemblage included faunal remains such as bone, coral, clam and oyster shell fragments;
personal items such as a brass straight pin, ball clay pipe bowl and stem fragments; seventeenth
and eighteenth-century ceramics including buff-bodied earthenware including Staffordshire and a
possible Midlands yellow, North Devon earthenware with gravel temper, tin glazed earthenware,
redware including possibly Red Borderware, early Buckley and Jackfield-type, imported
Westerwald stoneware, and Chinese export porcelain; unidentified bottle fragments; and
architectural items such as cut/wrought nails, brick, and window glass.
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