Uncovering the Past through Archaeology

From gun flints to delft tiles

In total, 16 archaeological projects have been conducted at Drayton Hall since the National Trust purchased the site from the Drayton family in 1974. From investigations of the flanker buildings to investigations of the 19th-century slave barracks, the garden house, and the 20th-century freedmen's village, almost all of the archaeology work at Drayton Hall has been carried out or overseen by Lynne Lewis, Senior Archeologist for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Archaeological features and artifacts recovered through such excavations provide particular insight into the lives of prehistoric Native Americans and enslaved people of African descent as neither culture left written records and not a single building used as housing for either Native Americans or Africans still stands today.

Archaeology also plays a critical role in our pursuit to better understand the Drayton family as not every generation had a biographer like Charles Drayton, who kept detailed diaries from the end of the 18th century until his death in 1820.

	Pre-Drayton Hall Drayton Hall was not the first house on this piece of land. Discover what we know about the house that stood before Drayton Hall and the people who lived here. Learn More
	18th-Century 18th-century artifacts recovered at Drayton Hall not only illustrate the wealth and refinement of the Drayton family, but also demonstrate how enslaved people of African descent carried their cultural practices with them from Africa to the New World. Learn More
	19th-Century Many of the Drayton men became doctors, and a number of the 19th-century artifacts uncovered during archeological excavations speak to their medical practices on the plantation. Learn More

The Privy

Although it was thought that this small brick outbuilding was the original seven-seat privy shown in Lewis Reeves Gibbes' 1840s sketches, it was archaeology that confirmed its function. Since the appearance, construction methods, and artifacts uncovered were similar to the main house and south flanker, archeologists believe that it too was built sometime between 1738 and 1742.

Archaeologists also uncovered a tunnel that ran from the privy out the west wall arch and toward the northeast for about 30 feet. Although archaeologists never found the tunnel’s end, historic maps of Drayton Hall’s landscape show a complex drain network, leading researchers to believe that the tunnel might have led to a drainage ditch that eventually fed into the Ashley River. Future excavations will test this hypothesis.