We have reached the midpoint of the 2009 season and, thus far, it has been a successful one. Excavations continued between Areas B (the forge) and F (the most developed portion of the seventeenth-century village) as well as at the defenses at the southeast corner of the settlement.

Photo Caption:A deep profile excavated earlier in 2009 exposes deposits from the early 1500s until the present century. A mid-seventeenth-century collapse of a brick structure can be seen near the center of the photograph.

The former excavations have exposed more of the cobblestone street that ran east-west through most of the village; we hope to get a firm date for its construction before the summer is over. A large fireplace from a late seventeenth-century dwelling is currently being exposed, another job we hope to complete during the 2009 season. Deep excavations, up to two meters, have revealed refuse left by migratory fishermen who visited Ferryland before the 1621 settlement. A few chert flakes and some bits of fire-cracked rock suggest the possibility of finding more Beothuk Indian remains from the early 1500s.

Artifacts from these excavations include hundreds of sherds from ceramic vessels of many types and from many parts of Europe - stoneware mugs and jugs from the Rhine valley of Germany, sgraffito and slipware from northern Italy, tin-glazed bowls (see illustration) and other forms, probably from Portugal, French faïence, coarse earthenware cooking pots from Brittany, and the ubitiquous North Devon earthenwares that comprise the bulk of the Ferryland ceramics. Tobacco pipes dating from the early 1600s to the late 1700s, an eighteenth-century gun lock (see illustration), sherds of bottle- and drinking glass, an unusual chipped stone pot lid (see illustration) bearing the initials "EL", and a few coins dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries round out the collection.

Photo Caption:A fragment of a tin-glazed bowl with an oriental motif depicting a human figure possibly carrying a potted plant.

Photo Caption: eighteenth century gun lock

Excavation of the hilltop bastion at the southeastern corner of the site is aimed at discovering the wood "palizado" described by Captain Wynne, the colony's first governor, and other traces of what we believe is the bastion upon which two small cannons, a "saker" and a "minion" were mounted by Wynne. Except for an east-west line of posts just south of the bastion, no trace of the palizado has yet been found. Even these features are not certain to have been part of the original defenses. On the other hand, and with considerable effort, firm evidence of the defensive ditch at the eastern edge of the settlement has now been located at the top of the hill where the bastion stood. Hopefully the next few weeks will reveal whether or not the ditch turns to the west and delimits the southern part of the fortifications.

Photo Caption: A flaked stone pot cover with the initials "EL" toward the three o'clock position.

The amount of labour involved in these excavations far outweighs the number of artifacts produced. A small cannon shot in the bottom of the ditch may date from the early period (although it does not fit precisely either a saker or a minion) and large nails and spikes may be some of those mentioned in Capt. Wynne's description of the fortifications. Most of the artifacts originate from a tavern which stood just south of the bastion during the middle of the eighteenth century. They include pipe stems, table and bottle glass and ceramics of German, British and probably American origin.

Work will continue at Ferryland until late September and we hope for an autumn of good weather to help us to solve the archaeological puzzles that now confront us.

During the fall, Dr. James Lyttleton, ISER postdoctoral fellow from University College Cork, who joined us for several weeks this summer, will be conducting excavations at Clohamon, County Wexford, where George Calvert resided while Avalon was being constructed. Several students from Memorial University of Newfoundland will join James for these investigations.

Photo Caption: Dr. James Lyttleton visiting archaeologist from Ireland, shows the results of his proficiency at the wet sifter, a device of which he bacame a master during the 2009 season.