My trip to Rebecca’s nurse homestead!!!!

My trip was amazing. As soon as We got there we started digging. Lucky for my group we had a chane to dig in back, they through the majority of trash there. My group got a little far, were in gravel area. Rebecca was accused of being bewitched. In ancient times that wasnt very good. We are going back there and We really want to find something interesting!!!!!!

Our Third Trip to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead

During our third trip to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead we dug up and learned many more things. During this trip we not only dug up artifacts but we also took a tour of the land. We got to see the cemetery, which had relatives of the nurse family and a monument to commemorate Rebecca Nurse herself. We also got a chance to look at many other sites such as the building built for the movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah and a fresh water lake. Not only was the tour fun but we also learned interesting facts from it. Some facts include that the original road that lead to the land was actually several feet away from where it is now and that many people believe that Rebecca Nurse is probably buried near and out side a door of the house because she was so important. In addition to the tour we also got to dig. But this time my group was moved to another spot. This time our spot was one on a slant and it wasn’t the most comfortable spot. But within this dig were many artifacts. We found many nails, lots of glass, one complete bottle, one broken bottle, two iron rods sticking out of the sides of the dig, half a teacup or creamer that had a complete handle, one pipe stem, one pipe end, and a couple animal bones. There were only two setbacks to this particular dig spot and those would be the large amount of rocks and the awkward position you had to dig in. But these setbacks were nothing compared to the amazing artifacts we recovered. This trip was a little different than the others but it was definitely one of the best.

Third visit to Rebecca Nurse Homestead

Today’s trip to the Rebbecca Nurse Homestead for the third time was not as exciting as compared to previous ones. I felt that way because we weren’t as digging as much and finding as much as we hoped to find. I really wanted to stay digging in the hole I was before, but I had to change to a pit where there were mosquitoes, muddy soil, and especially the smell of the soil was foul. I guessed it was because we were digging where people from the 17th century have been throwing trashes out. It was very disgusting. To be honest, at first I didn’t even want to dig…. And I still regret digging in that hole! My best shorts got all dirty… I didn’t know we’d be digging today, especially in a garbage dump.. Well, put that aside. In the previous hole my team and diligently dug up, the new team found prehistoric flakes, and I was really amazed at the fact that it was PREHISTORIC!! But I didn’t think anyone but I thought it was interesting. I wanted to dig there, but the new kids were complaining it was boring because they didn’t find anything, and were jealous of us finding trash from the 18th century. I really did not get how that worked…. Anyway, before all that, we had a tour around the Rebbecca Nurse Homestead. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to bring my camera, so I couldn’t take any pictures. I saw the graveyard or cemetery (I can’t remember) of the Nurse family and the Putnam family right beside each other. I also learned a lot of different things about graves, as well. The trip was pretty ok……. (I am just going to end like this….)

Rebecca Nurse Homestead: The Finish Line

           

         Yesterday we visited the Rebecca Nurse Homestead for the last time. There were five test pits scattered around the front of the house. We didn’t find much, only pieces of brick, one small piece of glass, a bullet of some sort, a couple pieces of red ware, porcelain with blue decorations, and hundreds of nails. I found something really special though, a gold wash cufflink. At first we thought it was a brass button, but Nate told us it was a gold wash cufflink. Our luck quickly ran out after we hit the gravel layer. We didn’t find anything at all! At least I had fun digging!

            Before we left, we toured the house and meetinghouse. We watched a very interesting slideshow in the meetinghouse. It gave a brief history of the building and what it was used for. There wasn’t much in the house, but I learned a lot about how people lived in the 1600’s. It was sad to leave the Homestead, but I will always remember what I had learned and apply it to everyday life.

Last day at the Homestead

Today we went to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead for the very last time with Dig This. We started 10 new test pits at different points around the front of the house. I was with Lindsey John and Sid. At first we didn’t find anything, but as we dug our way down we began finding lots more things. It was another promising dig at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. We found lots of pieces of red ware and bricks. Some of the red ware we found had a lead glaze on it. We also found some glass and a piece of ceramic. We made it all the way down to the gravel layer before we went on our second tour, which was a tour of the meetinghouse and Rebecca’s house. First we started in the barn where we learned that at first some houses were built for a small family with a chimney on the end but as the family grew they would build more to the house and maybe even have a second door to the home. We then headed over to the meetinghouse where we learned that families would not sit with each other during church and that women would sit on the east and men on the west. Children and slaves would stand in the back or go to the second floor. Church lasted 3 hours in the morning and then you would come back for another 3 hours. Also the meetinghouse was used in the movie Three Sovereigns For Sarah. We concluded the tour by going to the house and in their it was split in half on one half there is a caretaker who lives there and on the other side is the museum. We also saw a lot of wheels used to make clothes, and we learned that the frame was made of wood and rope and if you wanted the bed really tight you would use a special tool to tighten it. The mattresses were made of hay and if you were lucky you would have a mattress made of feathers. We learned that if a family were poor they would actually have to make their own clothes. Overall it was a very interesting day.

Rebecca Nurse Homestead Visit

Once again, we went to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead Dig Site. All the original pits were gone, so we got to start new pits, only these were smaller because they were test pits. I got to dig in a test pit which turned out to be just as productive as my first pit. Another difference between today and the other trips was that today we got to take a tour of the old house, the barn, and the meeting house that was built for the use of the movie, Three Sovereigns For Sarah. That was really cool, because the barn was actually used as a meeting house, and in the meeting house, about the olden days. It was very informative. Some of things that we found when we were digging were red ware, white ware, brick, bone, and ceramic. Today was a a enriching field trip. I loved it. The meeting house was really cool, too. It was built to look old, but it is really quite new. They took out all the pews to fit all the chairs in the room. They also had platforms around they room that you had to use a ladder to get to. Usually, children and slaves would stand in those platforms. Also, the pews would be separated by gender, not family, although if a family was particularly wealthy, they could purchase their own pews. A cool thing about the house is that it is divided into two parts. One part is where the people take you on the tour, but the other part has people living in it. In the olden times, families would have to knit their own clothes, and it would take a long time. Traditionally, the children would have two sets of clothes, one for church and one set for working in the fields.

A Last Visit to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead

During our last visit to the Rebecca Nurse Homestead, we did what we do best: digging (after all, it’s in the name of our course). This time, however, we left the pits we had been working on and dug five new test pits. It was some speedy digging as we anxiously dug up artifacts. In the test pit I was working at, the most important finds were a gold wash cuff link and a piece of blue and white ceramic.

We learned more about the history of the homestead by taking a tour of the house. The rooms were set up to look like they would have in the 17th century. I’m glad I wasn’t around then because girls had so many chores! (spinning, cooking, cleaning…) We also went to the gift shop. Doesn’t sound very interesting, right? Wrong. The gift shop is made to look like a barn from the 1600’s and is actually built from the original beams of the Endicott house. Not far from the gift shop was the meeting house, historical in its own way. It was built in the 80’s for the movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah, which we watched earlier as a class. The meeting house looks like the one where the Salem witch trials took place. Inside the meeting house, we watched a short slide show about the witch trials and the making of the movie.

As I climbed out of the “rally wagon” and walked toward the famous house that had become so familiar to me, I realized just how quickly Summer Session has gone by. Was it really only three weeks ago that 13 students from around the world came together as a class? I guess I’ve sort of come to like the noisy rides to various field trips, with energetic conversations, iPod listeners, and frantic efforts to finish homework. These people who only three weeks ago were complete strangers are now my friends, and I will never forget them.

Rebecca Nurse Reflection 4

Today was our fourth and last visit to Rebecca Nurse Homestead. We were very eager to start knowing it will probably be the last chance for us to do real archaeological dig in a long time. Surprising, we did not continue to dig the pits we worked on before but we opened five test pits (50cm by 50cm) and “tested” the productive rate of these areas. Since we got to choose our own groups, I was-once again-in Danielle’s group along with Malina and JP. After the long and hard time removing the grass on the top, we started digging into the gravel. There was not much found at the beginning, but soon-after we were through the roots and gravel-we began to find a lot of things including bones and bricks. After plenty of careful measuring and digging, Danielle suddenly picked up a piece of ceramic-looking thing and told me to show it to Nate (Dr. Hamlton). I did not find this piece of “ceramic” different from any other pieces so I gave it to Nate. Nate then told me that it was a piece of Northern Italian Marble from 1580-1630! He mentioned that it was the oldest thing found on the Homestead and showed the marble to Mr. Newhall…

Time flied during the dig and soon, it was time for us to have our tour through the Homestead this time not on the outside but the inside. During the tour, I learned that the colonists expanded their house by adding a second half of house to the other side of the chimney (the chimney is always on the side when a building is first built) and then, they will add an extra room to the first floor to one side so the length of the sloped ceiling will increase. In the end, they might add another small piece to the side of the house as an extra entrance. Then we were able to visit the meeting house which the movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah was recorded. In the end, we left all tired but pleased (before I could take a picture of the Northern Italian Marble!!!!!!!!).

Rebecca Nurse Homestead 3

As soon as we arrived Rebecca Nurse Homestead. We took a picture in front on the house, which was purposely built for the movie. Although they didn’t build this house long time ago, but the house looked really old.

Today was the third time to visit Rebecca Nurse Homestead. We got to visit the graveyard in Rebecca Nurse Homestead. The first thing caught my attention was the monument, which was surrounded by green leaves, of Rebecca Nurse. She born in 1678 and died in 1698. There was one thing really interesting. The Putnam family and the Nurse family was enemy before, then why did they buried together?

Professor gave us a tour of the whole Rebecca Nurse Homestead. He also talked about the history of Rebecca Nurse. We also did some digging; I have found more stuff this time. I have found some broken pieces of bricks and also some broken bones. Obviously, when we started digging deeper and deeper, we found stuff, which were more valuable and older. Also, I realized that after we passed the rock layer, the soil became so soft and easy to dig. It was a big contrast between today and yesterday.

We end by a group activity about artifacts. We discussed about the characteristics of a particular artifacts. Professor said if we looked at the image and color of the artifact carefully, you can determine when did the artifact was made. I found it really interesting.

Rebecca Nurse Homestead III

Can you imagine buying the home of your dead enemies? That is exactly what the Putnam family did, in 1784 (they owned it until 1908). After the Nurse family had lived at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead from 1678 to 1784.

On our 3rd trip to the homestead we got to visit the old graveyard. In the cemetery we saw graves belonging to the Nurse family, and surprisingly the Putnam family. The graveyard was very interesting. We also got to do some digging. I got the excavate the area near the door of the house. We didn’t find a lot, but it was a great experience. Ms. Blustain found a cat skull, which was very interesting. We also found some bones and miscellaneous objects. We also got to look at artifacts, and gather and describe facts and characteristics that it had.  This was a fun and interesting trip, I can’t wait to go back there.

-Christine E. Farzan