CLOSED ON SUNDAY
Due to a scheduling conflict. the excavation will be CLOSED on Sunday September 17, 2006. But operations will resume on Wednesday September 20.
Hope to see you at the park!
September 16, 2006
September 07, 2006
Synopsis
Wednesday marked the beginning of a 2-week long archaeological dig in Spanish Land Grant Park in Florissant MO. This is the last of a series of excavations that began in May 2004 and the main purpose of this dig is to find the original St. Ferdinand Church constructed in 1789. Besides finding the location of the church, many have been curious to the method of the building’s construction. Was the church made of logs placed in a horizontal fashion in Anglo tradition, or was the church created in the French colonial style with the trees cut, fitted and placed in a vertical fashion?
During that first dig, The Archaeological Research Center (ARC) and volunteers from the Old St. Ferdinand Archaeological Dig Committee and Mound City Archaeological Society set to digging in the southeast corner of the park and uncovered what appeared to be a burial ground instead of the anticipated remnants of the church. Out of respect for the dead, the coffins were left untouched and our professionals set off to excavate another portion on the southwest corner of the park. The dig ended with a cliffhanger when a series of postholes were discovered on that corner of the lot. Could this at last be the very church everyone was hoping to find? Or was this the remnants of a rectory? The question would remain unanswered until the next excavation event, but everyone knew for certain that the building was indeed constructed in the French vertical style.
During a week-long excavation in October 2004 and another six week excavation that began in May 2005, the southwest corner of the park revealed the remains of the church presbytery, an outside bake oven and an exciting array of English dinnerware, tea cups, saucers, wine bottles, buttons, pipe stems and surprisingly, Indian artifacts that included brass tinklers, gunflint and a black bear tooth.
During the last excavation, the ARC returned to explore the southeast portion of the park and found the impression of another vertical post. Have we finally discovered the original St. Ferdinand Church?
We invite you to visit Spanish Land Grant Park, located on St. Ferdinand and St. Denis streets. The excavation site is on the southeast corner of the park and there will be an information table with artifacts to inspect and knowledgeable professionals to chat with while you witness the first excavation of a French Colonial site in the St. Louis area.
For information on the dig or directions to the park, please email
Gretchen Crank at gcrank@1789stferdinand.org
or
Mound City Archaeological Society at moundcity@missouriarchaeology.org