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

NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE PLAZA
NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
3.0 FIELD RESULTS
truncated by an erosion feature (Feature 37) since no additional units were excavated east of this
point. However, the fact that this apparent end point aligns perpendicularly with Feature 39, a
north-south orientated palisade trench, does help support the notion that this may be the
southeastern corner of the fortification defense. The intact western edge is also interesting, not
only because the feature appears to stop at the north-south trending brick wall (Feature 58), but
also because the trench appears to turn slightly to the south (Plate 14). The directional shift is also
apparent within the northern palisade trench (Features 27 and 45). This feature was sectioned
within EU 4 and within EUs 15/16 and the only recovered artifacts originated from surface
cleanup. In addition to brick fragments, the other collected artifacts consisted of a redware
fragment and a tin glazed earthenware sherd. The portion of the feature matrix excavated did not
contain any additional artifacts. The profile indicates that the trench was square cut, having an
approximate depth of 2.40 ft. on the west and 1.32 ft. on the east plaza sections; these depths are
measured from the top of the intact subsoil.
At the base of the trench in EU 4, post mold impressions in the shape of split-logs were in
evidence, while similar stains were noted within the sectioned portion on the west plaza. The
stains at the base of the EU 4 portion were bisected, but yielded no additional artifacts and the
section within EUs 15 and 16 were identified approximately half way through the excavation of
the western section. Once identified, each mold received an independent feature designation from
east to west (corresponding to 40 through 44). Features 40 through 42 were bisected and fully
excavated to show that the post molds were indeed semi-circular in plan and tapering slightly
toward the base (Plate 15). No artifacts were recovered from the excavation of these mold
impressions.
Features 27 and 45
Features 27 and 45 were assigned to the northern palisade trench identified separately on the
eastern and western plaza sections. This palisade line appears to be the northern counterpart to
Features 24 and 29. Its total length was 67.5 ft., or 6 ft. shorter than the southern trench line with
its eastern terminus identified within EU 24 on the east plaza; adjacent the eastern edge are two
brick molds identified within the subsoil. The western edge of this feature also appeared to
change orientation toward the southwest and appeared to terminate at the north-south orientated
brick wall (Feature 58) on the west plaza.
Feature 39
Feature 39 is a north/south orientated trench that was identified at the top of the subsoil within
EUs 9 and 23 (Plate 19). It extends from the northern edge of EU 23 and terminates north of
Feature 37, a drainage feature in EU 23, for an overall feature dimension of 6.7 by 1.9 ft. Post
mold impressions were documented along the eastern edge of the trench, similar to previously
observed mold stains in the other palisade lines. This feature may comprise the eastern side of the
fortification line.
3.5.9 PLAZA CONSTRUCTION AND MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES
Feature 19
Feature 19 comprised the lowest fill layer present within the eastern plaza and was assigned a
feature number when initially identified in EU 6. A total of 2111 artifacts were recovered from
sampled portions in EUs 6 through 9 and 23 through 28. Please refer to the field results section
for further discussion.
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