More finds

Michelle and Danielle examining Nick's find.

The burned clay layer shortly after its discovery.

Today we found what may be our first evidence for the conflagration that accompanied the Creek Indian raid of April 9, 1761 that destroyed Mission Escambe.  In one of our recently-opened excavation units, Nick Simpson found a layer bright orange burned clay with areas of charcoal.  While this find has yet to be explored beyond its first appearance this afternoon, this discovery might be associated with a burned structure in the center of the stockaded compound at the site.  In the very same unit at the same level, a spent musket ball was also discovered, a find which would not be unexpected for the site of the attack that resulted in the deaths of two Spanish cavalry soldiers.

Separately, in another unit, a feature next to the cob pit removed yesterday produced a large number of large fragments of burned clay daub, probably representing clay originally packed in and amongst wall boards, poles, and thatch.  While these daub fragments probably date prior to the final Creek raid, several of them possess clear impressions of the structural elements they were packed against, including an obvious corner between flat boards, and a rounded pole.

Clay daub fragments with corner and pole impressions.

Tomorrow should be another productive day, and we look forward to learning more about these and other discoveries.