Announcing the Excavation of the St. George's Church Site

The team gathers at 9 am with our equipment

Surprise! All right, it may not be a surprise for those of you who may have been following our work over the past year, but we (meaning members of the local historical society and of the local chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association) have commenced an archaeological excavation at the cemetery - specifically of the eighteenth-century St. George's Church that once stood there. Our research goal is to clarify how exactly the site was used during the Revolutionary War, when George's Washington's troops were camped there, as well as what everyday life was like when the church was in use. We also hope to use this excavation to bring more attention to the archaeology and history of the area and to the local NYSAA chapter, to introduce NYSAA members to the process of excavation, and to set a precedent for more archaeological work in the future.

We began on Sunday by laying out two baselines, one running North-South and the other East-West across the cemetery. This involved a lot of skill and knowledge and we were lucky to have Carol, an experienced archaeologist in the CRM (cultural resources management) field, to guide us. We were also joined by Eugene, another very experienced archaeologist who has been excavating in this area of the United States for 30 years. There is a wide range in the level of experience among our group, ranging from these seasoned professionals to those who have some archaeological experience but a lot to learn (like me) and to those who have no archaeological experience at all - but everyone has made a very valuable contribution to the work so far. I am very impressed with the energy, dedication, intelligence, and spirit that people have brought into the field and am very excited to see what lies ahead of us in the next weeks.

Laying out the EW baseline