Anthropology

The University of Southern Mississippi
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL 2004

Fieldwork was conducted June 7 - July 16 2004 under the direction of Dr. Amy Young

Pictures from the field school

The 2004 summer field school, under the direction of Dr. Amy L. Young, conducted historical and archaeological investigations at The Oaks, one of the few surviving antebellum homes in Jackson, Mississippi. It was home to James H. Boyd and his family. Boyd was elected mayor of Jackson before the Civil War.

Excavations focused on identifying the locations of outbuildings and activity areas. The summer 2004 excavations were followed up with a week of testing in the spring of 2005. We located and tested the detached kitchen (circa 1850), a cold frame or greenhouse (circa 1880), and a barn (circa 1850). students mapping a unit

Deposits in and around the kitchen are relatively undisturbed. In one area that appears to be a corner, significant quantities of reconstructable ceramics, and a heavy concentration of buttons and other sewing items indicates that a cupboard or shelves were situated there that held dishes and a sewing kit.

In the barn, we recovered heavy quantities of iron artifacts including a horse or mule bit. The greenhouse contained dense concentrations of window glass.

Analyses of the materials recovered in excavations is still underway in the new historical archaeology laboratory on the Southern Miss Hattiesburg campus.