This summer we have five regular staff members and three archaeology students from Memorial University in the field laboratory. All have been working hard to clean, document, catalogue and stabilize the abundance of artifacts that have been unearthed this season. We are currently half through the 2009 field season with over 30 000 artifacts processed to date (see illustration).

Photo Caption: A glance at some of the artifacts being processed this season (click photo to enlarge)

The field crew has been busy unearthing artifacts between Areas B (the forge) and F (the most developed portion of the seventeenth-century village). These areas have produced an enormous amount of iron including nails, slag, tools, domestic items and hardware such as hinges, padlocks, keys, scissors and a complete gunlock to name a few. The latest find is a crowbar approximately four feet in length (see illustration). Many of the iron artifacts will be transported to Memorial University's Conservation Laboratory at the end of the field season where treatment will continue.

Photo Caption: Mechanical cleaning of iron crowbar approx 4 feet in length

Seventeenth- century vessel types from all over Europe, such as Northern Italian slipware and sgraffito, tin-glazed earthenware from Portugal, Britain and France, German stoneware and coarse earthenwares such as North Devon and Merida are represented in the collection this season. One vessel of interest is a small tin glazed earthenware plate bearing a blue compass design with a deep turquoise band (see illustration). The origin of this plate is unknown as there are no other examples in the Ferryland collection to date.

Photo Caption: Tin-glazed earthenware with compass design of unknown origin.

A number of small finds primarily manufactured from copper alloys and lead came into the lab this season. Artifacts included buckles and buttons, lead bandolier lids, a case bottle cap, hundreds of lead shot and musket balls. One unusual copper artifact with the initials "WB", an arrow and small star scratched roughly into surface was found (see illustration). This was excavated from a domestic occupation layer dating from1600 to 1696. It is unclear what the function of this object is.

Over the next six weeks the laboratory staff will continue to process and conserve artifacts form the Ferryland archaeological site. Check back soon for a glance of more discoveries as the season progresses.

Photo Caption: Unidentified copper alloy artifact.