Tim: a number of us have been wrestling with the clay pipe issue, in regard
to tavern sites, and have run into a similar situation. At the King of
Prussia Inn, Montgomery County, PA, we collected maybe half a dozen pipe
fragments from a deposit dating from ca. 1780-1825. A couple of issues that
we had to take into account: 1) the property had been severly truncated,
and was a fraction of its original size; 2) we couldn't be sure if we were
dealing with a "tavern" assemblage, or one associated with the
owner/occupants, or a combination of the two. Taverns are turning out to be
complicated propositions from an archaeological standpoint.

Richard M. Affleck, RPA
Senior Archaeologist
URS Corporation
561 Cedar Lane
Florence, NJ  08516
609-499-3447 (phone)
609-499-3516 (fax)