Charleston dig reveals tip of history

Those excavating Charleston's early walls were quick to get to the point. Literally.

The dig, taking place all month in a parking lot at South Adgers Wharf and East Bay Street, was begun in hopes of exposing a colonial-era redan, a pointed section of the brick wall that gave Charles Town's defenders more possibilities for firing on hostile ships.

After just a few feet, the College of Charleston students and their archaeology instructors had found the tip of the triangular section.

By Tuesday morning, an even larger chunk could be seen.

A little more than two weeks into a planned four-week-long dig, archaeologists already have found most of the major structures they've expected, including the 18th century redan, artifacts from the old Lower Market, and foundation remnants of Vanderhorst's North Row.

The only structure that likely will elude them is part of the easternmost foundation of the old Exchange or Vendue House, which existed from 1722 to 1772, said archaeologist Martha Zierden of the Charleston Museum. Its location is a several feet outside the parking lot.

The main pit is about 5 feet deep, and the students expect to be able to dig down 1 or 2 more feet before hitting water. A new pit near East Bay Street also uncovered another section of the redan but was mostly full of debris, likely deposited there after the 1886 earthquake, Zierden said.

Next week, the archaeologists expect to get heavy equipment from the Charleston Water System so they can excavate down well below the water table to expose the foundation of the wall. That could prove to be the first time such a section has been explored in more than 80 years.

In 1925, Charleston architects Albert Simons and Samuel Lapham examined the foundation of the Granville Bastion, a section of the wall underneath the Missroon House at 40 East Bay St. They found the wall's foundation extended 14 feet below street level and was supported by a cribbing of palmetto logs and wooden planks, said Katherine Saunders, who co-chairs the Walled City Task Force with Charleston lawyer and preservationist Joseph McGee.

"That's what you would choose (for a foundation) if you were going to build in a very wet, unstable soil," Saunders said. "We've never seen it. Simons and Lapham didn't take photographs, they just described it."

Until the backhoe arrives on the site next week, the students will proceed one shovelful at a time. Zierden said the layers in the soil are well preserved, calling them "a pure time capsule." Recent artifacts date to the 1770s. "This will help us determine what everyone was using at that period," she said.

Before 1700, colonists at Charles Towne constructed extensive fortifications to protect their 62-acre city from hostile Indians as well as from the Spanish and French, making this the only walled city in British North America.

The section along the Cooper River apparently was the only edge built of brick, almost certainly to provide more protection from ships' cannons. The other three sides are believed to have been built from earth.

About 300 curiosity seekers are dropping by the dig site each day to inspect the ongoing work, which is taking place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays.