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

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.
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