Between 1977 and 1981, the Virginia Research Center for Archaeology (VRCA) conducted extensive excavations at the Drummond/Harris Site (44JC0043). Located along the Great Road, which connected Jamestown with Green Spring, Governor Berkeley’s manor house during the third quarter of the seventeenth century, the site preserves evidence of occupation by the Drummond and, subsequently, Harris families from approximately 1648 to 1820 (see Appendix A).
The site was situated entirely within a plowed field, where an extensive artifact scatter measuring approximately 300 by 330 feet was visible on the surface. This circumstance provided a rare opportunity to establish a precise excavation grid of 95 contiguous 10-foot squares across the site’s core. The systematic recovery of plow-zone soil samples and artifacts was particularly significant. Such an approach would be difficult to replicate today because the adoption of no-till farming practices in the region no longer brings buried artifacts to the surface.
Approximately 9,500 cubic feet of soil were screened through ¼-inch wire mesh, producing a substantial collection of artifacts now housed in approximately 500 archival boxes of Governor’s Land material curated by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
At the time of these investigations, archaeological research in the region generally emphasized artifacts recovered from subsurface features, while systematic plow-zone studies were uncommon. Subsequent research, however, has demonstrated the considerable interpretive value of plow-zone assemblages. The Drummond/Harris collection therefore presents an important opportunity to revisit this earlier fieldwork. As part of the proposed project, the plow-zone data will be analyzed to determine how artifact distributions and soil characteristics may contribute to the interpretation of subsurface deposits and the broader use of the landscape. Comparative studies conducted over the past four decades at sites throughout the Chesapeake region, from St. Mary’s City, Maryland, to Jamestown, Virginia, will provide useful methodological and interpretive comparisons.
The complexity of the site, initially apparent from the approximately 170-year chronological range of artifacts in the plow zone, became even more evident through the mapping of numerous subsurface features. Excavations identified at least 32 structures, three craft-production areas, eight wells, one icehouse, nine refuse pits, 16 fence lines, seven ditches, a roadway, garden enclosures, and 21 graves (see Appendix A).
The domestic architecture evolved from an early post-in-ground wooden dwelling associated with the Drummond occupation to a later structure with brick footings. Outbuildings included quarters for enslaved people. These features, together with the numerous landscape elements, provide an unusually detailed record of the development and changing use of a colonial Virginia plantation. Representative excavation photographs are included in Appendix B. The proposed project will document and interpret the site’s features in detail.
The excavations also produced a wide range of ceramic, glass, metal, and organic artifacts, providing significant evidence of material culture and changing patterns of colonial consumption over approximately 170 years. More than 450 artifacts have already been illustrated (examples appear in Appendix C), although numerous categories remain to be drawn. The proposed project will complete the necessary illustrations and provide detailed descriptions of the artifacts, incorporating comparative examples from other archaeological sites.
Despite the extraordinary range of archaeological deposits and artifacts dating from approximately 1648 to 1820, the Drummond/Harris Site has never received a comprehensive published report. Researchers have nevertheless drawn upon its collections and archaeological data for decades. More than 120 documented uses of Governor’s Land research in articles, books, exhibitions, and lectures are identified in Appendix D. To date, however, researchers have depended largely upon the project directors to provide unpublished information and interpretive context.
