From bottle to basement: uncovering a repository of information

Late in 2014 we were contacted by contractors working on a rebuild project in Christchurch’s city centre. It was reported that a number of bottles had been uncovered during routine earthworks and the area cordoned off until our arrival. The bottles themselves were in pristine condition but what was of particular interest was the area in which they were found. Behind us was a mound of dark dirt, strewn with displaced wooden planks and broken bottles. I’ll be the first to admit, it wasn’t one of the prettiest features I’ve ever seen and, oh yeah, it was 2 metres below the surface of the city. So, today I’m going to take you on a little ride, a pictorial one as such, down through that ugly mound of dirt, the archaeology involved and the story it told.

And so our tale begins…

It began with a phone call one Friday afternoon (when I was already thinking about a cold brew at the closest drinking hole), but it was answered and soon I was joined by fellow archaeologists, decked out in hi-vis vests and mud-caked boots, with WHS trowels in the back pocket ready to work.

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The feature on the arrival of the archaeologist. Image: K Bone.

 

Due to the unknown extent of the feature we established a simple quadrant system to allow us to record any material collected as we removed the debris from the area. This involved removing all the planks of wood that were no longer in situ, along with any large amounts of soil.

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Initial excavations following the removal of debris. Image: K Bone.

 

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Excavation begins… Image: K Bone.

Once the area was cleared of all debris, we set out to define the full extent of the feature, which was beginning to look a lot like a floor. Three trenches were dug, along the western, southern and eastern sides of the feature (the northern side had already been dug out during the earthworks). Following the completion of these three trenches, we established a grid system for the collection of artefacts.

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The feature once fully exposed, and the three trenches excavated . Image: K Webb.

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Artefacts from below the floorboards, many complete bottles were recorded but were mostly damaged or broken. Image: K Webb.

Once the top layer of dirt and debris was removed and all structural wood was exposed the feature was mapped using a Trimble M3 total station.

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Site plan. Image: K. Webb.

At the same time, the stratigraphy of the northern baulk was drawn (this was the only stratigraphic profile that could be recorded, due to the sheet piling around the section).

This….IMGP0474

                       Was recorded as this…

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                which became this….CS161 strat Kim amended

Then the wooden floorboards were removed and excavation of the subfloor space began, revealling a treasure trove of artefacts and structural information.

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The remains of some upright boards nailed to the bottom plate at the south end of the feature. Image: K. Webb.

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The stone piles supported the wooden floorboards. Three rows of piles were found, one down each of the east and west sides and one down the centre of the building. The piles were unevenly spaced. Image: K Bone.

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During the excavation samples of each of the different timber elements were taken so we could identify the species at a later date. Image: K. Webb.

Once the field work was completed preparation of the report began, with the historical research. Maps and newspapers revealed that this section of land was the site of Barnard’s repository and later Tattersall’s horse bazaar.

Next up: the artefact analysis, which was conducted by one of our in-house artefact specialists. The artefacts are analysed according to their material classes and recorded by a number of attributes, with research including place of manufacture, product type, company name and date of production. This research contributes to our final interpretation of the site.

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Clay smoking pipes were found below the floorboards: a John Reynolds pipe (top) and a J. M. Heywood pipe (see next week’s post for more on this interesting fellow from Lyttelton). Image: K. Bone.

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Plymouth gin tin capsule, still attached to the cork. Image: K. Bone.

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Two bottle capsules still attached to the cork, and the bottle. This suggests that these bottles had not been opened at the time of their deposition. The manufacturer of the capsule at right was the Victoria Stores distributor; that at left could not be identified. Image: K. Bone.

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One of two coins found on the site. This particular one has a profile of the young Queen Victoria, with the date 1853. The other coin was a George IV coin, with the date 1826. Image: K. Bone.

Following the artefact analysis a series of spatial distribution maps were produced to determine whether or not there were any patterns in the distribution of the artefacts.

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Example of one of the spatial distribution maps. This looked at the relationship between the different forms of glass recovered from the feature. Image: K. Bone.

So what does it all mean? The location of the floor 2 metres below the ground surface indicated that it was a cellar floor. The artefacts found indicated that the cellar was primarily used to store alcohol bottles and leather goods. Conveniently, the historical research indicated that there had been both a hotel and a saddlery on site.

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And that’s how the discovery of a few bottles led to us uncovering a unqiue piece of Christchurch’s history. From the field work to the research, the artefact analysis to the final write up, the process is important in allowing us to tell the story of Christchurch.

Kim Bone

6 thoughts on “From bottle to basement: uncovering a repository of information

  1. Thankyou for sharing the process of site evaluation, & all that pertains thereto.
    I found it most helpful & quite interesting, & a great introduction to the depth of skilled work involved. 🙂

  2. What might tell us more is an explanation and picture of the bottles recovered, the actual firm names on the glass and shapes/style/types of bottles are of great interest to researchers and those of us in the bottle clubs who can help with and share our detailed passion and knowledge of such items, its a shame the ”in house” analysis person does not use the vast body of knowledge out in the collecting community, I for one would willingly offer my knowledge on these items and this website Im sure allows your staff to contact us with pictures of items that we would love to see, not locked away in a faceless repository somewhere or as is so often the case dumped when the ‘reports’ are done….

    • Hi Adam,

      All of the information on the bottles themselves will be in our report, which will be available from Heritage New Zealand if you’re interested in seeing more. The point of this particular post was to highlight the archaeological process we go through when investigating a site, rather than just the artefacts themselves, hence the relative lack of emphasis on the bottles and other material we recovered. We do feel strongly about sharing the archaeological discoveries and information about our past that we are uncovering in Christchurch (the aim of this blog is do just that), but our focus is not always on the artefacts alone.

      We do also consult with collectors on occasion, and certainly make use of some of the extensive resources available in the collecting community in addition to our own research. Thank you for your offer of assistance.

      Cheers,
      Jessie.

  3. Thanks Jessie for your constructive reply, so refreshing!
    yes, the process of excavation is interesting I am sure to the public, and I am glad you refer to our publications and research in your job, that’s great, as previously offered more direct assistance would be very willingly given as required by myself and others with extensive knowledge and experience, feel free to contact me.
    Also would be nice to think items were not dumped after recovery and storage, of left on site for destruction by the re-building process….
    All the best, Adam

    • No problem. Re the rebuild, part of our work in Christchurch is to make sure that all archaeological material disturbed during that process is recovered from sites and we do our best to make sure that this material is retained and curated for the future.

      Cheers,
      Jessie.

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