Hello everyone,

Sam Sweitz and I are researching cisterns constructed in Cold Spring,  
New York, during the nineteenth century.  We excavated a cistern with  
a internal structure for which we've not yet been able to find  
comparative information.  Marty Pickands already shared some  
comparative material with us that Chuck Fisher and Nancy Davis found  
when studying a cistern at the South Street Parking garage in Albany,  
New York.  He sent us articles from the Annual Register of Rural  
Affairs (1861) and from the Mason's, Bricklayer's and Plasterer's  
Guide (1892) which provide good comparative information on cisterns.

We are curious if anyone has ever excavated a similarly built  
cistern.  I have put a sketch of the feature here:
http://www.ss.mtu.edu/faculty/Scarlett/Xfer/Cistern.jpg
This feature was about 2 meters x 3 meters x 2 meters deep. The  
rectangular pit was lined with a thick layer of packed clay about  
four to six inches thick.  builders then constructed a wooden box in  
about 2/3 of the clay lined pit.   A barrel sat atop the dividing  
wall, presumably where the water runoff from the roof could be  
funneled into the cistern.  The feature was filled with artifacts,  
animal bone, and debris, so we think that the internal structure was  
removed or destroyed when the cistern was abandoned.  We found some  
fabric and charcoal, but none of the internal structures suggested  
the functional structures for filtering water.

Similarly built cisterns were excavated by Grossman Associates at the  
site in the early 1990s in other worker housing units.  Their report  
suggested that this style of construction may be an Irish or British  
style from the early nineteenth century. We are interested in the use  
of clay liners, wooden boxes or baffles, and wooden barrels.  Has  
anyone seen this type of construction elsewhere?

Cheers,
Tim Scarlett






Timothy Scarlett
Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences/AOB 209
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Ave.
Houghton, MI 49931
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(906)487-2359 (office)
(906)487-2468 (fax)
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