Ground Penetrating Radar arrives

     Today, Elizabeth Wilson, owner of a company called Tomb Geophysics, arrived to conduct a survey of Yarrow's lot using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).  Like so many who have contributed their time and money to this project, Elizabeth is not charging for the survey.  

       GPR provides an image of what lies under the ground much like an MRI shows what's inside your body, although the technology is different.  The quality of the image and how far it reaches below ground depend on several factors.  However, Elizabeth said the sandy soil that showed up in the test pits is conducive for getting good images.  

  

       Of course, interpreting GPR results takes training.   The images are not like photographs and show things in three dimensions, not two.  They are another tool, though, that the archaeologists can use to figure out what's under the ground and where to dig next.

        Since Elizabeth is donating her time, her business deserves a plug.  It's Tomb Geophysics, www.tombgeophysics.com.  And she can be reached at (771) 733-0930 and ewilson@tombgeophysics.com.   

Visitors to the dig

      On August 14, members of several mosques in Washington D.C. visited Yarrow's lot.  Reasoning there might not have been anyone around to offer an Islamic prayer for the dead when Yarrow was interred on the property at his death in 1823, those attending this August joined in giving the prayer.

      On August 22, some of Yarrow's "family" visited.  He has no living blood relatives, but his daughter-in-law, Mary "Polly" Turner Yarrow does.  Alice Truiett is her great, great, great, great niece. Alice's grandmother, Emma Turner, knew Polly Yarrow, although she did not pass down any stories about her.  Still, the volunteers who have been doing the archaeology to unearth traces of Yarrow were pleased to meet Alice and her daughter Robin Truiett-Theodorson and make a human connection to the man.  Pictured below are Robin, Ruth Trocolli, the city archaeologist, Alice, and Jim Johnston.   The photograph below that shows the volunteers at work during the visit.

Promising finds

     I am learning that archaeology isn't an instantaneous process.  They can't just dig and say "oh, this is amazing."  They dig, sift the dirt through screens, and look to see what might be there other than dirt.  Shards of pottery, bits of metal, and any clearly man-made items are removed and placed in a bag marked with the digging site from which the items came.  When it is all over, the bags, photographs, and all the other records they maintain will be taken back and examined over time in the comfort of offices and laboratories.
      That said, it is hard not to feel excited about the discovery of the item in this photograph.  The archaeologists, who are remarkably good at identifying common objects at first glance, believe this is one part of a cuff link.  With the crown, it would have been for a dress up occasion.  Since I am not an archaeologist and don't have to be scientific about this, I'm sure Yarrow Mamout wore this when he was painted by Charles Willson Peale.  The archaeologists are a wee bit more cautious.  They say this could have come from Yarrow's time, but it also could have come from later in the nineteenth century.  That's why they take everything back to labs where they have reference books and things.

The first day of digging

    The archaeological work has finally begun at Yarrow's lot.  The owner has given permission, and a team of archaeologists from the DC government is digging.  The team consists of Ruth Trocolli, Archaeologist for the District of Columbia, her assistant, Charde Reid, and Mia Carey, a PhD candidate in archaeology at the University of Florida.  These photos are from the first day's work.  The plan is to dig a series of round test pits in a grid across the property.  (The lot is 30 feet wide and 150 feet deep) to give the archaeologists an overview of what's under ground.  Once those are completed, trenches will be dug in the more promising spots.  The work is complicated by the fact that the property had both a cellar and swimming pool and the spoil from these excavations was spread on top of the soil from Yarrow's day.  This overburden may be two to four feet deep.
    The archaeologists would also like to use remote sensing.  This consists of Ground Penetrating Radar that can "see" what's under the ground.  GPR images aren't quite like xrays though.  They only show irregularities in the soil.  Nonetheless, GPR should show if the foundation from Yarrow's house is down there, if there are logs from his house or organic remnants of logs, and possibly the rectangular soil disturbance from his grave.  The archaeologists would also benefit from earthmoving equipment to help dig.  The city doesn't have money for this, however, and so arrangements have been made for donations from the public to the DC Preservation League.  The League will then use the money to pay for the needed equipment and operators.  Donations are tax deductible and can be made online at https://dcpres.wufoo.com/forms/z1qvq2b30nfy8d6/,  The archaeological team has set up its own website for the project at http://yarrowmamoutarchaeology.weebly.com/.  You can follow the progress there.

Differing Perspectives on Slavery

    One of my topics for the Speakers Bureau for the Montgomery County Maryland Historical Society is Differing Perspectives on Slavery in Montgomery County and Washington D.C.  I use excerpts from my two books, The Recollections of Margaret Loughborough and From Slave Ship to Harvard to show the various views about slavery and race relations that prevailed in a border area before the Civil War.  Local cable news interviewed me about my talk at the Gaithersburg Museum in this short video.Montgomery County Media interview.

Submission to Old Georgetown Board on Yarrow's property

The Old Georgetown Board will be asked to approve any new construction on Yarrow Mamout's property, 3324 Dent Place, so I decided to submitted the linked document to the Board to share what I know with anyone wanting to construct on the property and with the Board.

Submission to Old Georgetown Board