Report #5

Dyottville Glass Work

The Dyottville Glass Works site was located at the intersection of Dyott Street and Richmond Street, with Dyott Street to the south, Richmond Street to the west, and the Delaware River to the east, situated along the northeast shoulder of the Dyott-Richmond Street intersection.

The initial test unit excavations in Trench 3 revealed the presence of an expansive, generally high-density prehistoric artifact assemblage across the entire trench (n=2,488) and extending outward an indeterminate distance in all directions. In terms of vertical distribution, the majority of artifacts (n=1,922) derived from the two uppermost Ab-horizon soil deposits (2Ab and upper portion of the underlying 2Ab/2Cg horizon), with a higher proportion of the artifacts being recovered in in the former context (n=1,016). Only EUs 3 and 5 were able to sample portions of the deeper 3Ab horizon due to safety concerns and groundwater infiltration; however, in both units, a marked increase in artifact count was associated with that stratum. No artifacts were identified within the gravelly deposits below the 3Cg horizon.

Native American artifacts are represented by pieces of lithic manufacturing debitage, a number of formalized (diagnostic bifaces) and expedient tool forms (utilized flakes, hammerstones, etc.), prehistoric ceramic sherds, and quantities of FCR (Table 3). Represented lithic raw materials include argillite, chert, jasper, quartz, quartzite, and sandstone (predominantly hammerstones and FCR). Lithic debitage constitutes the single largest artifact category (n=1612; 65%), represented in flakes from a range of stone tool reduction and manufacture, from the initial testing of unmodified raw material to the late stage of reduction. Jasper flakes comprised a majority of the debitage assemblage (n=744; 46%), followed by those manufactured from chert (n=382; 24%). FCR makes up the second largest artifact category (n=745; 30%).

Prehistoric Artifact Summary for Trench 3 by Soil Horizon (EUs 1-3 and 5 combined)

Group	Description	AC	2Ab	2Ab	2Cg	3Ab	3Cg	Total
Debitage	Argillite	71	88	26	9		3	197
	Chert	143	148	58	16	12	5	382
	Jasper	280	342	70	28	17	7	744
	Quartz	66	73	13	3	3	2	160
	Quartzite	27	61	30	7	3	1	129
Total		587	712	197	63	35	18	1612
Core	Chert	4	1	5	1			11
	Quartz	7	4	1				12
	Jasper			3		1		4
Total		11	5	9	1	1		27
Unifacial Tools	Notched Flake	1		1				2
	Scraper			1	1			2
	Utilized Flake	4	4	2			2	12
Total		5	4	4	1		2	16
Bifacial Tools	Biface	12	8	3	3	1		27
	Point, Side-Notched	2						2
	Point, Stemmed		3					3
	Point, Reworked	1						1
	Point, Triangle		1					1
	Point, Teardrop	1						1
Total		16	12	3	3	1		35
Cobble/Groundstone	Chopper	1				1		2
	Hammerstone	2			1			3
	Netsinker	1		1				2
Total		4		1	1	1		7
Prehistoric Ceramic	Grit-temper	15	22	1	1			39
	Quartz-temper			2				2
	Steatite-temper			1	1			2
	Unknown Rock-temper					1		1
	Pipe Stem		1			1		2
Total		15	23	4	2	2		46
Total FCR		268	260	105	71	38	3	745
Overall Total		906	1016	323	142	78	23	2488
Only EU 3 and EU 5 extended below 3Cg-Horizon

Table 5.1

Cores, cobble/groundstone tools, and bifacial/unifacial tools are all represented. A total of 27 core fragments were identified, with a majority being procured locally as cobble cherts, jaspers and quartz. In addition to the cores, several cobble and groundstone tools were recovered (n=7). These tools include two choppers, two netsinkers, and three hammerstones. Flaked stone tools from the site are represented by both bifacially and unifacially worked pieces. A total of 35 bifacial tools or tool fragments were recovered, including eight projectile points and several pieces (n=27) abandoned in the early through late stages of manufacture. Of the recovered points, five are stemmed Piedmont-variety examples (quartzite, jasper, and argillite), two are jasper triangles, and one was of tear-drop form (chert). Of the unifacial tools recovered (n=16), 12 of the specimens consist of utilized flakes. Also included are two notched flakes and two scrapers (Figures 35 and 36).

Prehistoric ceramics represent the last category of prehistoric artifacts recovered (n=46; 2%) (Figure 37). These specimens include 39 sherds of grit-tempered pottery (fabric-impressed and undecorated), two quartz-tempered sherds (fabric-impressed), two sherds of steatite-tempered pottery, and one crushed rock-tempered body sherd (argillite). Two clay pipe stem fragments were also identified.

Trench 6

Trench 6 also produced evidence of an expansive, generally high-density prehistoric artifact deposit (n=475) extending outward an indeterminate distance in all directions. In terms of their vertical distribution, prehistoric artifacts derived evenly between the 2Ab horizon (n=184; 39%) and underlying 2ABb horizon (n=188; 39.5%) soil deposits. No artifacts were identified below the upper 10 centimeters of the 2ABb horizon.

Native American artifacts are represented by pieces of lithic manufacturing debitage and quantities of FCR. However, only a small number of formalized (bifaces) and expedient tool forms (utilized flakes, hammerstones, etc.) were recovered (Table 4). No prehistoric ceramics were recovered from EU 6. Represented lithic raw materials include argillite, chert, jasper, quartz, quartzite, and sandstone (predominantly FCR). Lithic debitage constitutes the single largest artifact category (n=333; 70%), represented by flakes from a range of stone tool reduction and manufacture, from the initial testing of unmodified raw material to the late stage of reduction. Chert (n=103; 31%), argillite (n=101; 30%), and jasper (n=101; 30%) flakes comprised a majority of the debitage assemblage. FCR constitutes the second largest artifact category (n=138; 29%). Cores, cobble/groundstone tools, and bifacial/unifacial tools are minimally represented (Figure 38). One quartz core was recovered in the uppermost stratum. Additional tool finds include two jasper biface fragments in the 2Ab horizon and one sandstone hammerstone in the 2ABb horizon.

Prehistoric Artifact Summary for EU 6 by Soil Horizon

Prehistoric Artifact Summary for EU 6 by Soil Horizon

Artifact Description		Soil Horizon			Total
		2Ab	2ABb	2Bwb1
Debitage	Argillite	43	37	21	101
	Chert	40	48	15	103
	Jasper	52	34	15	101
	Quartz	6	6	2	14
	Quartzite		14		14
Total		141	139	53	333
Cores	Quartz	1			1
Total		1			1
Bifacial Tools	Biface Fragment	2			2
Total		2			2
Other	Hammerstone		1		1
Total			1		1
Total FCR		40	48	45	138
Overall Total		184	188	88	475

Table 5.2

Within EU 6, two possible prehistoric features were identified. Features 6 and 7 were identified as potential semi-circular post features within 2ABb-horizon soil deposits. Located approximately 2 feet from each other, both features consisted of charcoal and decaying wood, and exhibited very similar overall dimensions (0.3-foot and 0.35-foot diameters, respectively). Each feature extended to a depth of 0.2 feet into the underlying 2ABb-horizon soils. Charcoal and wood samples from each feature were collected and have been submitted for radiocarbon dating (results still pending).