A Preliminary Report, Juttiette J. CaAtwnight

EXCAVATION OF THE VAN WYCK HOMESTEAD A PRELIMINARY REPORT By Juliette J. Cartwright

During the years of the American Revolution the village of Fishkill, New York was transformed from a quiet farming community to the site of one of the principal military installations in the north. Known as the Fishkill Supply Depot, it served as an easy rendezvous point and encampment for Continental troops and state militias. As the major base of the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments its primary function was the procurement, storage and distribution of food, clothing and munitions. During the period 1776 to 1783, when the Fishkill Supply Depot was active, references to a magazine, barracks buildings, workshops, stables, a hospital, a prison and storehouses attest to the complex of military activities carried out here. Frequent mention in the historic record of the house of Isaac Van Wyck as an officer's headquarters, a paymaster's office and the scene of many court martials has led to an interest to preserve thg Van Wyck Homestead as an important landmark of the American Revolution. This past summer's dig was part of a continuous program of archaeological investigation of the Fishkill Supply Depot Area led by the Fishkill Historical Society and supported by various grants and private donations since the 1960's. The 1974 excavation on the grounds of the Van Wyck Homestead was undertaken to uncover archaeological evidence which would shed light on the nature and dating of various occupations of the house; the nature of the various activities carried out there; and the relationship between the historical record and the recovered archaeological data. Of particular interest was the house's use as a military headquarters during the Revolution and whether or not the archaeological remains would reflect this specific usage. This first season of excavation at the Van Wyck Homestead began on July 8 and continued through September 6, with the final week limited to excavations in the cellar of the house. Field work was conducted by a crew of five undergraduate and graduate students from New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware and twenty members of the Fishkill Historical Society who volunteered on a regular basis. The volunteers, who ranged from 9 to 57 years of age, were instructed in archaeological technique and worked under close supervision. Each person was instructed in the processing of artifacts and participated in lab work in an effort to keep up with the large volume of artifacts unearthed each day. Digging was carried out in five foot grids and three foot wide trenches. Grids were taken down following the natural stratigraphy and each level was bagged separately. A complete record - maps, notes and photographs - was kept for all phases of the excavation. In this manner, the excavation of forty-nine grids and six test trenches was accomplished and an approximate volume of 3,000 cubic feet of earth was moved. At the conclusion of nine weeks, over 32,700 artifacts were recovered. Artifacts not included in this count are bone, shell, coal, coal ash, slag, charcoal, and construction materials such as brick and mortar. Of the total number of artifacts, 16,059 (50%) were ceramics. Within the ceramic category, 14,598 were earthenware, 830 were stoneware, and 631 were porcelain sherds. Over 7,103 metal artifacts were

found. This figure includes a wide variety of brass, pewter, silver and iron objects. Of this total, there were 5,975 nails, 114 buttons, 32 buckles, 7 sleeve links, 9 coins, 3 grapeshot, 7 musketballs and 6 buckshot. The remaining nonmetal artifacts include 7,704 pieces of glass, 1,229 fragments of kaolin pipe, 5 gunflints and 430 aboriginal artifacts. A more detailed analysis of the total artifact assemblage is in progress. Several features were revealed through this summer's excavations. The most interesting feature uncovered during the summer was an activity area located directly behind the east wing or 1732 section of the house. Here a large concentration of colonial artifacts was recovered from a thick deposit of dark humic soil with a high shell and gravel content. This deposit was reached between .8 and 1.0 feet below the surface and was .3 to .5 feet thick. The deposit was thickest near the house and tapered and disappeared twenty feet north of the house. Another feature was exposed approximately fifteeen feet northeast of the house. This feature was a small circular concentration of coal ash mixed with bone, ceramics and metal debris. The contents of this feature indicate a late 19th to early 20th century domestic refuse pit. One structural feature encountered was a stone sluice extending from the east side of the 1732 section. The sluice continued for approximately twenty feet and emptied into a circular stone pit or dry well. The sluice and dry well were covered with flat stone slabs to allow drainage. Artifacts associated with this feature suggest a late 19th century date. The excavation of the "Southeast Room," an enclosed room in the southeast corner of the cellar, uncovered at least two separate artifact-bearing floor levels. No cultural remains were uncovered in the rest of the cellar, except for a thin scattering of 20th century litter found on the surface. Below this was an undisturbed glacial deposit underlain by a coarse sand and finally a fine-textured gravel. Since the "Southeast Room" is the only area of the cellar where cultural material has been preserved, it would seem that the rest of the cellar floor had been stripped or lowered at some time in the past. Last summer's excavation unearthed a corpus of data which, when compared with the historical record, will facilitate a more accurate interpretation of the Van Wyck Homestead's 242 year history. A more thorough discussion of this summer's findings awaits the conclusion of the analysis currently underway. In view of the results of the first season of excavations, further archaeological testing of the unexplored portions of the Van Wyck Homestead grounds is needed.