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

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Plate 22. Example of coral recovered from the Court House excavation. Pictured examples were derived feature 20 and include the bulky and frond-like acropora palmate (left and center) and the diploria strigosa, more commonly known as brain coral (right).
NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE PLAZA NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE 4.0 ARTIFACT ANALYSIS by the American War for Independence (Pendery 1980:28-32). The archeological deposits at Puddle Dock were reported to date to circa 1710. The presence of the coral was mentioned but unexplained; at the time, however, it was noted that “it is usually found in excavations around old wharves” (Speare 1969). 4.4.3 DUTCH YELLOW BRICKS A small quantity of yellow brick fragments (n=18) was recovered from eleven contexts at the Court House excavations. The majority of the contexts (10 of 11) were located on the east plaza, and three were associated with Feature 20 (Plate 23). Of the measurable bricks in the assemblage, eight fragments were complete enough to provide information on brick dimensions, and six of these fragments were found in Feature 20. The bricks recovered from Feature 20 appear to be of a small brick type of Dutch origin referred to as drielingen. This type of brick was specified in an early seventeenth-century law as a standard size for buildings in Amsterdam, and drielingen were soon used in other parts of the Netherlands and New Netherlands (Blackburn and Piwonka 1988:127). Standardized measurements for drielingen were 6 x 3 x 1 inches (current measure) (Blackburn and Piwonka 1988: 127). The yellow brick from the Court House excavations are generally a 2.5Y 8/4 hue and chroma, using the Munsell Soil Color Chart. Other categories of Dutch yellow brick, such as the larger moppen and Vecht or Utrecht-sized bricks were not present in the assemblage (Blackburn and Piwonka 1988:127). Archeologist Richard Viet reports that drielingen are the most frequently reported type of Dutch brick found on seventeenth-century archeological sites in Delaware, and have also been reported in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, and the Caribbean (Viet 2000:70). The brick was relatively water resistant, resists wear and frost damage, and allows mortar to cure more fully. Overall, yellow brick was an excellent brick for exterior construction of building facades, roadways, and footpaths (Blackburn and Piwonka 1988; Meeske 1998:212-214). 4.4.4 GUN FLINTS/FLINT FRAGMENTS A small number of European flint flakes (n=33), European gun flints (n=2), and one locally reworked flint strike-a-light were recovered from the archeological field investigations. Approximately 76 percent of the flint flakes were recovered either from SU C (n=3), SU E (n=7), SU J (n=2), or Feature 20 (n=13). Two European flints (contexts 37 and 158) were recovered from SU E and a flint strike-a-light (context 43) was recovered from Feature 20. Each of the following contexts yielded a single flint flake (SUs M and N; EU 4, Level 3A; cleanup of EU 8; Features 9 and 21) except for SU B, from which 2 flakes were recovered (Nöel Hume 1969:219- 221). 4.4.5 PREHISTORIC ASSEMBLAGE In the proposed Archeological Preservation Plan for New Castle Heite the area of the Market Square was identified as an area that had a high potential for Native American remains, since the area was a topographic high point in the town, was a center of seventeenth-century life, and may have functioned as a rendezvous point for European traders and Native Americans (Heite and Heite 1989:39-41). Despite this recommendation the number of prehistoric artifacts (n=106) recovered from the deposits beneath the Court House plaza was a rather unexpected discovery. 71
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Report of the Archeological Investi
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NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE PLAZA NEW CA
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Abstract Acknowledgements List of T
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1.1 BACKGROUND NEW CASTLE COURT HOU
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0 150ft 0 30m Project Location Figu
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Figure 3. Detail, Latrobe’s eleva
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1.4.1 1950’S RESTORATION OF THE C
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Plate 2. Plan view mapping of EU 21
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EU6 MATCH TO FIGURE Fa Post hole Ce
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ARTIFACT INVENTORY NEWCASTLE COURTH
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Wade Catts , RPA Associate/Senior P
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APPENDIX III: RESEARCH DATA FROM DE
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APPENDIX IV: CHRONOLOGY BLOCKHOUSES
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“That his honour would please to
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(who is in pay and is kept for to l
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WADE P. CATTS Associate Principal A
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2000 Conducted historical research
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1986 Soil Chemistry and Historic Ar
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2004-2005 Field Supervisor. Phase I
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