The Governor’s Land Archaeological District (GLAD) was listed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. This designation was followed in 1975 by a detailed archaeological survey and inventory of sites across the district’s 2,000 acres. The survey was directed by Alain C. Outlaw and funded by the National Park Service. Subsequently, two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supported historical research, archaeological fieldwork, laboratory processing and analysis, and preparation of summary reports for the sites between 1976 and 1981. These investigations included the Drummond/Harris Site (44JC0043). The two earliest sites investigated were published by the University Press of Virginia in 1990. Despite numerous articles, research reports, and manuscripts resulting from the Governor’s Land investigations, however, the Drummond/Harris Site remains unpublished as a comprehensive archaeological report.
The present request for $200,000 represents a major component of a larger initiative to curate, document, and publish the archaeological collections and research associated with all excavated sites on the Governor’s Land. It is also designed as a stand-alone, three-year project focused exclusively on completing the documentation and final report for the Drummond/Harris Site (44JC0043).
The project will document and interpret the site’s 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. It will also document approximately 500–700 representative artifacts recovered from both the plow zone and subsurface cultural deposits. Analysis and documentation of the plow-zone assemblage and subsurface features and artifacts will proceed concurrently, allowing the two bodies of evidence to inform and complement one another.
Previous NEH-supported work provided a substantial foundation for this undertaking. Field records and maps were compiled, soil chemistry was analyzed, artifact catalogs were prepared, artifacts were conserved, and numerous excavation photographs and artifact drawings were completed. The proposed project builds upon this considerable investment in research and documentation, bringing the existing records, archaeological data, and artifact studies together to produce a comprehensive final site report.
The work will be conducted at the Wheatland Foundation, Inc. office and laboratory at Christopher Newport University (CNU), where Principal Investigator Alain C. Outlaw has served as an adjunct professor in the History Department for 25 years. Continuing artifact analysis will also take place at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation’s storage facility in York County, where the Governor’s Land archaeological collections are housed.
Project Personnel and Qualifications
Principal Investigator Alain C. Outlaw is exceptionally well qualified to direct this project. Having served as Principal Investigator on numerous archaeological investigations at Governor’s Land, he brings decades of firsthand experience with the district’s archaeology, documentary records, and research history. His familiarity with the Drummond/Harris Site and the broader Governor’s Land investigations is particularly important to completing a report that integrates the original fieldwork with subsequent specialized studies. His publications include a book, contributions to technical journals, and articles for general audiences addressing the archaeology and history of Governor’s Land.
Curator Merry A. Outlaw brings extensive expertise in the analysis and interpretation of the Drummond/Harris artifact collection. She has published numerous articles drawing upon these materials and has specialized knowledge of seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century material culture. Her experience with the collections and their historical and archaeological contexts will be essential to the detailed documentation, illustration, and interpretation of the site’s artifacts.
Together, the Principal Investigator and Curator bring the firsthand archaeological experience, institutional knowledge, and specialized material-culture expertise necessary to complete this long-standing research undertaking.
Project Contact:
Alain C. Outlaw, Principal Investigator
Telephone: (757) 561-1156
Email: AlainOutaw@aol.com
