The Hidden Heritage of Hopewell:
Archaeological Investigations
on the Appomattox River at Site 44PG381

Supported by:
Virginia Department of Transportation

The historic riverfront of Hopewell has escaped the scrutiny of archaeologists. Our work at just one section along the Appomattox has revealed the richness and significance of below-ground traces of Hopewell's earliest inhabitants, beginning about 3000 BC.

Through support from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Center for Archaeological Research conducted intensive archaeological excavation at Site 44PG381 from July 31 through November 14, 1995. Preliminary work at the site, also sponsored by VDOT, identified the first evidence of Native American and colonial occupations. Full excavation was eventually determined to be necessary to preserve the significant information prior to construction related to Route 10 bridge improvements. This latest study thoroughly investigated the prehistoric Native American and mid-18th-century colonial occupations, and also examined unexpected traces of Civil War activity. 

Prehistoric Occupations

The earliest occupation occurred during the Late Archaic period, 5000 to 3500 years ago. A small group of Native Americans used the site as a temporary camp while they hunted and foraged. The camp activity most evident now is the manufacture of spear points and knives. Two concentrations of telltale stone debris pinpoint the toolmaking area on the east side of the site. Several broken and unfinished blades indicate the sites's occupants were using locally available quartzite and quartz cobbles as the source of stone. The fragments of large spear points/knives are characteristic of this time period. The lifespan of the small camp was probably no more than a week or two, after which the inhabitants moved on to another area and established a new camp, perhaps where food was more abundant. The well-preserved traces of toolmaking here allowed us to reconstruct the manufacturing techniques for these tools in unprecedented detail.

The second Native American occupation occurred on the eve of European colonization, between AD 1500 and 1600. This occupation was more permanent than the Late Archaic camp. Artifacts from the Late Woodland occupation include triangular arrow points of stone, an abundance of stone flakes from toolmaking, and thousands of clay pottery fragments. The pottery fragments exhibit manufacturing techniques characteristic of the late prehistoric period. Most obvious are impressions of woven fabric and a type of "simple-stamped" pattern intentionally left on their surfaces before the clay dried. Occasionally, decorative geometric patterns were scratched into the clay, along with other designs. The pottery fragments are usually from simple pots that were used both for storing and cooking food.

It is likely that these remains represent a portion of a small village or community of scattered households. Numerous small postholes were revealed by our excavation that potentially represent the locations of houses. The site occupants probably had cleared portions of the area for fields to grow corn and other food plants. While the identity of the natives occupying the site is not certain, it is reasonable to believe that they were members of the Appamattuck tribe or chiefdom eventually encountered in the area by the first English colonists. Archaeology here will add a great deal to our understanding of the Appamattucks prior to colonization.

Historic Occupations

Site 44PG381 is located on land owned by the Bland family during the 18th century and referred to as "Bland's Cawsons." The Bland property encompassed 350 acres, stretching south and west from 44PG381. The Bland family connection to the site was first discovered in a large trash-filled ravine at the northwest edge of the project area. Nearly 30 bottle seals bearing the stamp "T. Bland" were recovered along with hundreds of pieces of wine bottles, fragments of porcelain and other ceramics, buttons, cufflinks, clay smoking pipe fragments, and other household items. These artifacts provide a mid- to late 18th-century date for the filling of the ravine, the same time period Theodorick Bland and other family members owned the property.

Also dating to the eighteenth century is the foundation of a small outbuilding on the top of the terrace near the trash-filled ravine. A layer of ashy soil was found on top of the clay floor, indicating that the foundations belong to a smokehouse where meat was cured and stored. The large amount of animal bone in the nearby ravine supports the smokehouse interpretation. The presence of the trash pit and smokehouse and the number of high-status, household items recovered in them suggests that the main house for Bland's Cawsons was nearby. Traces of it might survive on neighboring property, but it is possible that the artifacts recovered by this study are the only remaining evidence of this once-grand colonial home.

Portion of a map of Bermuda Hundred (not shown) by Nathanial Michler (1867)

The second historic-period occupation is represented by a collection of postholes that date to the Civil War. These postholes form the outlines of tents used to shelter wounded Union soldiers during the siege of Petersburg in 1864 and 1865. The tents were part of the extensive Union Army hospital that stretched beyond this site to City Point. The white canvas tents were stretched over poles and arranged in neat rows. Period illustrations and photographs show some with covered walkways connecting them. A square stone and brick feature within one of the tent outlines may represent the base of a hearth to warm the tent. A small ditch on the outside of the tent provided drainage. Minie balls (lead bullets) associated with the tent patterns confirm the date for this activity.

Summary

Projects such as this one are an important window to our past. The investigations at 44PG381 provide a glimpse into the lives of Native Americans, a prominent colonial family, and the Civil War. The fact that the evidence is all preserved on a small tract measuring 70 meters on a side further attests to the wealth of information that survives on this peninsula where the Appomattox and James rivers converge. Archaeology, combined with historical research, is the only means for recovering the hidden heritage of places like Hopewell.

We wish to thank the citizens of Hopewell residing nearby for their patience and interest in the work. We are grateful, too, for the interest shown by city officials and especially the aid provided by the Hopewell Police Department. Mr. Carl Kindervater, in particular, is to be commended for his sincere interest in the archaeology and security concerns. 

NOTE

A complete report of research at the Site 44PG381 is available as the Center's Technical Report Series No. 24.

Suggested Readings

For More Information Contact

Joe B. Jones, William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research

Phone: 757-221-1581

Email: jbjone@wm.edu