Hume's Excavation In The 17th Century

Archaeology is a multifaceted discipline and process that requires assiduous planning and dedication. Hume’s excavation at Martin’s hundred relied heavily on multiple disciplines in conjunction with a plethora of different archaeological methods and tools to illuminate the lives of the Europeans at Martin’s hundred, and their relationship with the Native Americans. Moreover, the field of archaeology can be spontaneous, and many sites can be discovered by accident as was the case with Martins Hundred. Despite the spontaneity, however, excavation sites require discipline and logical reasoning to formulate research objectives and questions, even, if these queries are formulated relatively quickly as the site is unearthed. Furthermore, Hume utilized
a variety of different archaeological methods and techniques in addition to the written record in the pursuit for Wolstenholme Towne as well as unveiling one of the oldest English settlements in North America.
The primary purpose of this excavation was to determine if this site was the Martin’s Hundred Plantation, and to find out the layout of Martin’s Hundred as well as the location of Wolstenholme Towne. Moreover, Hume desired to determine whether this site was the original Martin’s Hundred, and if this location was where the 1622 massacre occurred.
The original purpose of the Martin’s Hundred excavation was nothing more than a project to provide a better interpretation of the 18th century Carter’s Grove Plantation, and its past. In addition, this project was aimed at restoring the various buildings at Carter’s Groves. According to Hume, “Almost from its outset, the story of the Martin’s Hundred project was umbilically linked to the lifeblood of popular acceptance. That it began all was due to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s desire to find historically unimportant space at Carter’s Grove that it could put to exhibit use during the 1976 American Bicentennial celebrations.”(Hume, XXI)
Initially the beginning excavations at Carter’s grove were problematic, and Hume resorted to utilizing machinery rather than digging the site by hand as that process would be arduous and time consuming.
Moreover, Hume states “I therefore decided that the only practical course was to take a chance, and bring in a mechanical grader to scrape away the plow zone in strips wide enough for us to examine the clay subsoil for signs of colonial disturbance.” (Hume, 10) By, utilizing this method and taking a gamble Hume had uncovered several grave sites and trash pits, and more importantly 17th century artifacts were found. Furthermore, Hume stated that “But again the artifacts dated from the seventeenth, and not the eighteenth, century, among them a small brass mathematical counter made by Hanns Krauwinckel of Nuremberg, between 1580 and 1610.” (Hume, 17)
This accidental discovery was the first step in identifying this site as the Martin’s Hundred Plantation. The next process was to ask several research questions that would lead to more questions, and this process allowed for Hume to be as objective as possible in addition to venturing into unfamiliar territory of research. Hume stated “The question “When? Was but one of many: Why were there so many sites in so small an area? Who had lived there and why? What happened to cause them to be abandoned?” (Hume,
19)
Moreover, by asking different research questions, and excavating the site, Hume was able to uncover the layout of the postholes of several buildings in addition to the myriad of graves found at the site. In addition, Hume utilized pottery, architecture, everyday objects, and burials to interpret and identify the Martin’s hundred site. The first step was to identify and classify the different pottery sherds, and to determine the sociotechnic aspect of the pottery. To achieve this goal Hume utilized Dutch and Flemish paintings from the seventeenth century to compare with the different artifacts found at the site to determine the potential social class of the inhabitants of Martin’s hundred in addition to extracting more information about the pottery such as the location where it was produced as well as its makeup of its material. According to Hume “At Martin’s Hundred, as I noted in the previous chapter, we have spent long hours trying to find parallels for our artifacts in the genre paintings of Dutch and Flemish artist.” (Hume, 88) The use of these paintings in conjunction with the pottery sherds provided a new lense in which to reconstruct the lives of the common citizen in Martin’s Hundred.
Moreover in addition to pottery Hume used tobacco pipe fragments