Vaulting Through Time

Vaulting Through Time. Archaeology at the Cluskey Vaults. , Like much of the soil in Savannah, the loam beneath the Cluskey Vaults tells a great deal about the past when it is studied scientifically through archaeology. Interest by the community led the City to have such a study of the vaults. Like all professional archaeology projects, this one consisted of historical research, careful excavation, mapping, and documentation of the stains and other clues in the soil. The results and documentation of this study, including all artifacts, are preserved by the City of Savannah Research Library and Municipal Archives for future study. This project also used technology: LiDAR to make a spectacular 3-D map of the vaults; Ground Penetrating Radar to locate pit features before excavating; and a fiber optic video camera to see behind the sealed fifth vault. The public participated in the project from the very beginning to the very end, and many people visited the site during fieldwork., The Impetus , Young men in the Earl T. Shinhoster Leadership approached the City of Savannah with concerns about the history and current use of the vaults. The group requested that research and archaeology be conducted to determine whether the vaults had been used to hold African American slaves., The City was responsive, and thus began an important partnership. City archivists and other staff, archaeologists and students at Georgia Southern University, local high school and college students, girl and boy scouts, and others in the community worked together to uncover the history of the vaults., Discoveries!! Discoveries!! Discoveries!! , Vault 1 (farthest from City Hall) contained a hearth likely made by Civil War Union soldiers who took Savannah in December 1864. Artifacts around the campfire included an 1864 Infantry button, a medical thermometer, and a latch possibly from a doctor's satchel. Elsewhere in the vault lay a U.S. Navy button from the same period. Vault 4 also contained a pit with cast iron pots, hoes, and an ax rusted together [Below], on top of a stash of 19th century, corked wine bottles. The pit lay deeper than the hearth layer, therefore pre-dating the hearth. Since these easily-ruined items were placed in a pit, it appears that they were intentionally buried., Vault 2 may have been used as a stable and for coal storage. A pit here contained a variety of artifacts, suggesting that it was either a trash pit or a privy used to discard trash., Vault 3 contained a pit with 1880s Savannah "Lawrence and Weichselbaum Druggists" bottles. Unfortunately, the presence of plastic and cement indicated modern disturbance of this area., Vault 4 (nearest City Hall) revealed evidence of the vault's 1904 collapse and its immediate reconstruction, which destroyed portions of the clues underground., Kids, Look Down! What's Beneath Your Feet? , Can you think of ways artifacts become buried? , A site is like a crime scene, with clues about what happened in the past. What happens if someone note trained in archaeology digs through the clues? , Can you save a site like the Shinhoster group did?, (captions) , [Top Left] Shinhoster members sift soil with the Georgia Southern University anthropology graduate student directing the project. [Middle Left] Excavating a trash pit feature containing Savannah druggist bottles. [Bottom Left] Mapping the location and dimensions of soil layers and features.