Hello.
A colleague has been working on a site in Frederick, Maryland and
uncovered an interesting building. We need your help figuring out what
the structure could be. Her description is below, pardon the
lengthiness. Please email me if you'd like to see pictures. Thank you!
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Based on historical documents and information about other structures in
the immediate vicinity, this structure was built between 1800-1832. It
is constructed of limestone with locally sourced sand mortar.
The structure's foundations extend 80-90 centimeters below historic
ground surface.
The longer walls measured approximately 24 inches in thickness, the
shorter walls about 18 inches.
The stones were faced and the exterior of the building was whitewashed.
The structure was buried in the 1930s when the area was being leveled to
build a concrete block factory; from the time it was completed until
1939, the entire structure was above-ground. The stones on its east side
are an outcropping of bedrock. The structure was not built into a bank.
There is no evidence of multiple building episodes - the structure
appears to have been built this way on purpose. The stone slabs and the
mortared top were integrated into the walls of the structure - these
weren't added later. The slabs' sides were faced and mortared like the
other wall stones, and they were also whitewashed.
The three stone slabs across the top of the structure were covered with
mortar, the holes filled with smaller stones, the entire thing covered
with more mortar and topped off with large flat pieces of slate. Each
slab weighs almost half a ton - these were HUGE and had to be removed
with a Gradall.
The only opening in the entire structure is in the west wall. This
consists of a small iron door, like an oven door, which offers an
opening of about 1 foot square. There is no chimney or other outlet
anywhere.
The interior of the building is open space - there is no evidence of
shelves, kiln or oven furniture, or a brick or stone floor. The floor is
dirt, and seems to have a normal soil profile. There are some artifacts
inside but these appear to be related to a rat or mouse nest that was
located inside the building - i.e., chewed animal bones, small bits of
pottery and glass, etc.
The interior shows no evidence of burning - i.e., soot, blackening or
other discoloration on the interior of the building, ashes, charcoal, or
coal. None of the artifacts appear burned.
In summary, this building, made of hand-shaped limestone blocks, was
painstakingly constructed and was not modified. It is essentially a
limestone box with only one small door, but wouldn't have worked as any
of the following (as far as anyone can tell so far):
Storage/Granary/silo/cold cellar/root cellar: the opening is too small.
It would have been impractical to try to get anything in or out. Most of
building was above ground.
Kiln/Oven: No chimney, no internal structure, no evidence of burning.
Springhouse: Again, the size of the opening makes this unlikely. Nobody
could get inside to store anything. Also, according to the Maryland
Geological Survey, NO SPRING.
Drying house: these were typically frame structures and had a particular
design - this is no good for that.
Smokehouse: No burning, no way for smoke/heat to get out to smoke
anything. Opening too small.
Barn foundation: No good - this building stood 6-7 feet above ground.
Privy: Too big, not deep enough, and how would anyone get in?
Wellhouse/wellhead: couldn't get water out?
Crypt/burial: The residents were founding members of the local cemetery
and are all buried there. No burials inside.
Summer Kitchen/Bakeoven: No chimney, dirt floor, totally enclosed
roof/top, limited access, no burning.
Any ideas?
Nichole E. Sorensen-Mutchie, M.S, RPA
Archaeologist
Maryland Department of Transportation
State Highway Administration
707 N. Calvert Street, CLL-4
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-545-8793 (office)
410-209-5046 (fax)
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