Archaeology Update [also see History Update and Press Release] Excavations during the May, 2010 Archaeology Month/Frontier Faire weekend located the south end of the west wall trench.  With this and the previously excavated west end of the south wall, we were able to determine the footprint and size of the SW corner blockhouse as pictured below.   On August 14, 2010 we found the east end of the south wall trench and its corner with the east wall as pictured below.  It is now clear that the ditch, excavated in 2007-2009 (and thought to be a latrine ditch) is actually the northern 14' of the east wall and that there was probably a gate  south of this segment as suggested by the gap in the trench line.  There is convincing evidence that there was also a blockhouse in the northeast corner.  On August 23 the NW corner of the fort was located  in Unit 20 and its projection to the east bears out the hypothesis of a NE blockhouse.  Known wall trench features, including SW, NW & SE corners, and the position of the blockhouse hearth now provide a good idea of the fort's footprint, which is shown below superimposed on a gradient map based on the  2007 metal detection survey.  Grids are 20' x 20' and oriented 13 degrees west of north based on the property boundary which serves as the baseline for the grid.  The fort is oriented on a N/S axis. In 1794, General Knox, U.S. Secretary of War, sent the fort plan pictured below to the Governor of Georgia. The plan is about 18% larger (and flipped horizontally) than the Fort Daniel plan as determined by archaeology. Note the postions of two 6-ft wide gates (A A) in Knox's plan. The conjectured Fort Daniel east wall gate, mentioned above, is depicted as the gap in the east wall on the plan above. Compare this with Knox's plan below.  The implication is that there may be an identical gate on the west wall with a "street" connecting them  If this turns out to be the case, the further implication is that structures within the fort would have been north of, and south of this street.  We will be looking to  confirm the gate locations during the public archaeology portion of the 2011 Frontier Faire. In January 2011 a new GPR survey of the fort area, including areas not previously covered in the 2007 survey, carrired out by GSU's Sheldon Skaggs, produced a convincing picture of the fort's subsurface features as seen in this composite of the 2007 and 2011 GPR surveys and the (flipped) Knox graphic on the right.  Image courtesy of Sheldon Skaggs.

Update continued... Since the 2011 Frontier Faire, GSU archaeology students under Dr. Jeff Glover and GARS have been investigating what has been called a 'brick" feature in the NW corner of the interior of the fort.  It has developed into something of a mystery following partial excavation of the feature itself. We await results of labratory analysis of the 'brick" as well as ordinary red clay from the feature.  A plan view of the feature (below) showing bottom of the Level 1 (plow zone) and top of Level 2 where the featyure was identified, before excavation of the feature itself.   In 2012 Dr. Glover's students began excavations in the NW Blockhouse where they have recovered a number of artifacts including buttons, bullets, wrought and machine-made nails, a flint and a variety of ceramics.  A partially mended Prattware Teacup by Shannon Coffee, is pictured below.     Because brick fragments have been found at the site, during the 2010 Frontier Faire, GARS and FDF members did a brick making demonstration.  With the help of Cherokee Brick & Tile Co., Macon, who supplied brick for much of the clamp kiln pictured below and "burned" 50 of the Fort Daniel brick in their modern tunnel kiln, the brick making portion of the event was quite a success.  The remaining "Green" brick were put in the Fort Daniel clamp kiln. See Brickmaking pdf presentation.         Mystery Object Identified (See other FD Mystery Objects) We have recovered several "mystery" artifacts at the site.  Among them is the broken object below on the left Its function remained a mystery until we saw the complete object at the home of member Charles Warbington.  It is part of a collection of Charles' dad's farm implements.  It is a "clevis," which was attached to the front of a mule-drawn plough where the animal's harness was attached and probably should be dated to the 1920's or so. (Photos by Vince Macek, TRC).