William & Irene J. Henry wrote:
>
> Forwarding a message from Eric Klingelhofer on the subject of bawns and
> medieval enclosures:
 
  The folks in Williamsburg (CW and W&M) will have collected
> examples of vernacular architecture, post-built included, for their
> reinterpretation of Jamestown. As will, of course, Kelso for the APVA.
 
There are many similiar sites in Virginia, but the ones I am familiar
with do not use the buildings as part of the palisade wall as does ours.
This was the point I was trying to make in comparing our site to medieval
granges.  As you cannot see our site map, suffice it to say that out of
four structures, three were used to make up part of the palisade.
>
> As for the double enclosures, is there a possibility that you are
> observing a multi-phase site? A key point of interpretation would be
> the presence - and placement - of bastions or towers.
 
It appears that the site is all fairly comtemporaneous, but I must stress
that many features are left to be excavated.  And most of the post holes
so far have yielded little in the way of tightly datable artifacts.  We
have not found any towers, but some parts of the palisade are still under
plowzone.  It is interesting to note that recent plowzone removal (and
yes, we screen 100 percent of our plowzone, a pain but great for artifact
recovery!) near what we think may be a corner of the palisade facing the
water has begun to show large post holes and we have recovered a
cannonball.  Proves nothing I know, but we are hoping!
 
  These (bawns)I fail to find in early 17th century Virginia, with
> a few notable exceptions that lack recognizable enclosures.
 
Have you seen the reports on Jordan's Journey  (sites 44PG302 and 307)?
These seem to me to be an almost exact parallel to the Irish bawn
concept, with a main fortified domestic enclosure (with at least 5
longhouses, if I remember correctly, service buildings and a livestock
enclosure) with a road leading away and smaller fortified domestic
enclosures along the road.
>
> Eric Klingelhofer   Mercer University
 
--
Steve Boxley,  Ja.T., M.N.
The Virginia Foundation for Archaeological Research, Inc.
[log in to unmask]