What does an archaeologist do on their vacation? Volunteer on someone else's archaeological excavation! On Sunday I drove to the Watchung Reservation in New Jersey to help out with the ongoing Feltville Archaeology Project. Excavations have been undertaken here for several years as part of a university field school and public archaeology project. This site lies within the Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park, a National Register district.

This particular site had a foundation of a structure dating back to the 1700s. Other extant buildings within the park include other residences, a general store/post office, church, and barn. This area has been inhabited for over 300 years and had served as a farming community, a quasi-utopian mill town, and a summer resort. Today the village is protected as part of Union County's 2,000 acre Watchung Reservation.

What may be the foundation for an "el" addition is exposed in the middle of the photo, and what is likely a retaining wall lies in the foreground. These shallow units will remain open for a time so the public can witness the ongoing archaeological excavations. 

These excavated units show two courses of cut sandstone (likely quarried locally), which served as the foundation of the original part of the house. 

The garage now has sides and a roof! Some work still remains. A newly dug drainage trench can be seen in this photo. We thought this was necessary after having 8" of rain dumped on us over the last few days. While digging the trench I found several slabs of old slate sidewalk as well as various historic artifacts. Sherds of terra cotta flower pots attest to a greenhouse having been located here in past decades. I'm sure we'll liven up the archaeological record with various bits from working on our stable of British automobiles in years to come...

Putting on the last of the roofing panels. Finishing the trim and installing the doors remain. 

The 109, 88 and MG are now under cover... 

And plenty of room to park the other three vehicles. This garage is huge!

My commute just got a little easier to take...

NPR has finally offered podcasts of many of its programs:

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php