Voted the Best Place to See by Condé Nast Traveler.
The fifth and final day of the Archaeological Institute got off to a quick start with all participants showing up early for the day’s work. Rather than commencing the day at 9am, all were busy excavating by 8am! The objective of the day was to clarify all features associated with the masonry wall exposed in the previous days. Following a thorough trowel cleaning it became clear that a series of post holes mirror the shape of the masonry wall as they appear to curve around towards the north flanker building. Such suggest that the original collonade may have been built of brick (front foundation) with wood used as structural material sunk into the ground as supporting posts in the rear. Wood appears to have also been used above ground and covered with plaster to appear as stone. Thus the majority of the collonade would have been formed from wood- a material that could have been quickly dismantled in the event of a natural or cultural disaster such as a hurricane or war.
Work will continue on site next week as Drayton Hall’s archaeological staff finishes recording the week’s discoveries. This will be followed by additional work with excavated artifacts.
The archaeology team returned to the north flanker building this fall season to complete excavations on this important structure which had taken place in 1981 and 2008. Increased armadillo activity…
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Black Delft fragments found archaeologically at Drayton Hall The tiny artifacts pictured above represent the only examples of black delft ever found archaeologically in the world. Black delft, a tin-glazed…
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info@draytonhall.org
3380 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
Drayton Hall's main house and landscape are open to the public daily from 9 am to 5:00pm* (gate closes at 3:30 pm). The gate will accept no cash transactions.
