. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. than others, and that tIn- sleepers were made from short .mhI sometimes roughly cut lengths of timber. These sleepers m iy. in fact, have served only as a base for anchoring the ends of floorboards, as was certainly the c tse northwest of the underhearth where the nails from the ends of five boards had dropped through into the channel left by the decayed sleeper. It may be supposed, therefore, that the sleepers' location would have been dictated In- the vagaries of board length rather than by the design of a planned, measured foundation and
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. than others, and that tIn- sleepers were made from short .mhI sometimes roughly cut lengths of timber. These sleepers m iy. in fact, have served only as a base for anchoring the ends of floorboards, as was certainly the c tse northwest of the underhearth where the nails from the ends of five boards had dropped through into the channel left by the decayed sleeper. It may be supposed, therefore, that the sleepers' location would have been dictated In- the vagaries of board length rather than by the design of a planned, measured foundation and that they served as ties for the floor, rather than joists raising it off the natural clay beneath. In addition to the remains of the carefully laid floor, another much-decayed board, 10 inches wide, and of uncertain thickness, was found running north/south immediately west of the underhearth. This board was partially covered by mortar, suggesting that it had been set on the dirt during the building of the brick structure. I he filling of the cellar in the vicinity of the chimney and underhearth comprised a single massive deposit of sandy clay, scattered through which were numerous iron nails, isolated oystershells and occasional frag- ments of pottery, glass, and tobacco-pipe stems. A similar unified filling was encountered at the western end of the excavation, but towards the middle a large and irregular deposit of oystershells was sealed within the sand at a depth of 4 feet 6 inches sloping upward to 3 feet 6 inches towards the south wall. The shell layer averaged from 6 to 9 inches in thickness and was. found to contain many of the more important artifacts. On the wooden floor of the cellar lay a thin \',- to 1-inch layer of wood ash, mortar, and occasional brick- bats. Had this accumulation been considerably thicker it might have suggested that the building above had been destroyed by fire. But although the presence of this skin of debris could not be explained, it was far
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Keywords: ., bookauthorun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectscience
