During the six-week course on site, Brighton's students built square excavation units and dug to a depth of about four feet. Using lasers and surveying instruments, they made soil charts and plotted graphs of each unit. The items found will be carefully washed, labeled and studied for several months at Brighton's lab. A similar study, which Brighton undertook a few years ago in Ballykilcline, will give him an opportunity to compare artifacts found in Ireland with those found in Maryland.
"We will spend a year trying to tease out information on why these items were deposited, when they date to and what they mean," Brighton said.
The students have found remnants they hope to trace to a general store, a tavern and hotel, and a post office.
"I have always been interested in history and finding things in the ground that I can tie back to their original use," said Chris McDaniels, a rising junior at College Park who was on his first dig. "I found about 40 intact bottles, lots of toys and the best thing - a five-cent token coin from Ed Doyle's bar."
That tavern opened in the early 1900s, probably in one of the houses and later expanded into a hotel.
The students filled in the holes and relaid sod Thursday, but Brighton expects to return next summer and conduct another field school.
"This study is telling us a lot about the everyday lives of the people," Thompson said. "The buildings may be mostly gone, but we are learning who lived there and why. By piecing these historical sources with the archaeological evidence being recovered by Dr. Brighton, we can ensure that the memories of old Texas will be kept alive."
