EXCAVATION 2007 - 2010

EXCAVATION 2011 - 2022

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The Warner site is currently the only site, either prehistoric or historic, to have significant archaeological research conducted on it in Livingston County.  Given the paucity of archaeological investigation in the county and none otherwise in Brighton Township, fifteen years of excavation at the Warner site has provided valuable insights into agricultural life from Michigan’s pioneer days.  Analysis of thousands of artifacts including buttons, nails, brick, ceramics, coins, utensils, tools, glass, bottle fragments, animal bones, farm implement parts, etc., has provided a window into the lives of a family beginning when the area was first settled to the current day.  The combination of historical, genealogical, and archaeological research by a direct family member has allowed for an exceptional opportunity to chronicle the life of a Michigan farming family beginning in the pioneer days of westward expansion from New York to today, 185+ years later.  Only a small portion of the site has been excavated and it has the potential to reveal valuable information regarding transition strategies from a frontier subsistence lifestyle beginning in the early 1840s to a post Civil War capitalist surplus economy.  In addition, important insights have been made regarding midden distribution patterns, material culture, generational quality of life changes, availability of goods and services over time including barter and trade, as well as development of outbuilding layout under the progressive farm model.

Relatively little formal archaeological work has been conducted in Livingston County despite the rich potential for both prehistoric and historic sites.  An archaeological site bibliography provided by the Office of the State Archaeologist in 2009 lists just nineteen references dating from 1981 to 2004.  This list includes several surveys using 19^th century maps, information provided by local residents, and interviews with state park personnel to identify potential sites.  Six of the references are for multi-county Phase I surveys completed in advance of a pipeline project in which two also included Phase II testing.  Three were in response to other development projects such as sewer expansion, construction of an automotive proving ground, and roadway access.  The remaining references are for a donated collection, other 19^th century atlases, and surface surveys.  Only two sites were deemed potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the remaining considered simply artifact scatter. 

Not included in the Office of the State Archaeologist bibliography is another archaeological excavation on an 1842 pioneer log cabin site located in Howell Township.  The site was excavated in the fall of 1973 by a local high school teacher as part of an American heritage class.  The extent of the dig is unknown but it did yield a number of historic ceramics.  The results were never published and recovered artifacts, notes, and other documentation cannot be located by relatives of the teacher.

Archaeological investigation at the Warner Site (20LV334) began in July 2007 with the use of a metal detector to locate metallic artifact concentrations potentially from the log cabin occupation.  A locus of mostly iron artifacts was found in a field just west of the driveway in an area used as a garden for decades.  A 50’ by 50’ area was plowed to aid in the recovery of artifacts.  A five-foot wide trench was excavated in 2.5 ft by 2.5 ft squares through the locus but only produced a scatter of square nails, glass, non-diagnostic ceramics, and pieces of brick. 

By September 2007, excavation efforts focused on the “blacksmith” foundation that consists of large, intact, dry-set boulders.  This area yielded a large quantity of iron artifacts including hinges, latches, chains, whippletree/horse harness parts, buckles, nails, and other various implement parts.  Other artifacts including late 19^th century ceramics (a number with makers’ marks), part of a grindstone, a trunk key, jackknives, and several pieces of brick, as well as large quantities of glass, have been recovered.  No convincing evidence was found that actual hot metalworking was conducted in the building. 

Just a day after excavation of the “blacksmith” foundation had begun, a find was made in an unusual way that changed the direction of archaeological investigation at the site for several years.  A Siberian husky, owned by the author’s uncle, Elroy Warner, dug a hole in the back yard in pursuit of a ground squirrel.  One of the author’s twin three-year old daughters, Megan, found a single sherd of pottery and notified her mother of her discovery.  The pattern on the sherd was easily identified as a mid 19^th century blue transferware later determined to be “Lozere.”  This soil was sifted using a hand screen and sherds from at least five different vessels of varying styles were recovered.  The discovery led to the excavation of nearly 5,000 square feet between the house and the clothesline over fifteen years yielding thousands of artifacts from a sheet midden and twenty-one documented features.

Excavation methodology follows the English grid system of five foot by five foot units that are quartered into two-and-one-half foot squares.  The grid of units is based on a datum set at the southeast corner of the one story portion of the house.  Soil is excavated down to the subsoil by hand using shovels to place it into quarter inch hardware mesh screens.  Artifacts located in situ are measured, photographed, and otherwise documented.  Cobbles, boulders, and other possible structural remains are left in place and mapped accordingly as a group.  Features are mapped by plan and quartered for profile and photographed.  Artifacts are bagged by quarter unit and then cleaned, numbered, weighed, measured, identified, and otherwise documented.

A total of 794 quarter units amounting to 4962.5 square feet have been excavated over fifteen seasons that sampled three distinct functional areas.  The back yard living space area was plowed, likely during the log cabin occupation, as plow scars have been discovered in several areas between the interface of top and sub soil.  The oldest artifacts found on the site possibly date to the time when members of the family were still in New York, indicating that they brought these artifacts with them when they emigrated.

Within the excavation area, twenty one features have been identified thus far ranging from mid 19^th century trash pits to early 20^th century privies.  Artifacts from the features were plotted using three-dimensional triangulation of north, south, and depth.  Feature 15, a Civil War era refuse/burn pit containing ceramics, glass, butchered animal bones, buttons, buckles, etc., was especially concentrated and nearly 500 artifacts were precisely plotted. 

One of the most significant finds was made in March 2012 with the discovery of a dry set stone well located just south of the house.  The well is made of fieldstone boulders and cobbles, some weighing over 100 lbs.  The well has an 18" column that was filled with nearly seven cubic feet of artifacts.  The artifacts date to 1840 to 1910 with the vast majority attributed to the last quarter of the 19th century.  Examination of reassembled artifacts and high artifact to soil ratio suggests a quick deposition timeline ranging from weeks to possibly just days.  One clue regarding deposition timeline and time frame originated from a brief newspaper article.  The article appeared in the local newspaper dated April 27, 1910 that indicated "George Warner and family will soon move on to the farm where they used to live just beyond Leonard Morgan's and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Warner will occupy the old Timothy Warner homestead." (Brighton Argus 1910).  George grew up at the Warner homestead but moved out after purchasing his own farm several miles away around 1871.  After his parents died in 1900, George and family had moved back to the Warner homestead.  When George's son Herbert and wife Laura Warner were married in April 1910 George moved out and the newlyweds moved into the homestead.  The deposit has been interpreted as a cleanout of the house by one of the family members.

In addition to excavation, a multidisciplinary approach has been employed at the site.  Remote sensing was conducted by Dr. Tim Horsely, formerly Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan, using a magnetometer over three thirty by thirty meter sections west of the driveway at one-meter intervals in May 2010.  Twenty-two soil samples taken from the two-acre habitation area around the house were analyzed by Dr. Jeff Guthrie, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and his quantitative analysis class at Eastern Michigan University for calcium, potassium, and phosphate, producing several with positive results.  Soil from the boulder foundation of the blacksmith shop was tested by Dr. Henry Wright, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, for slag globules and magnetic scale, though none was found.  Members of the Michigan Archaeological Society, students from Eastern Michigan University, family members, and neighbors have all assisted in the recovery, identification, and documentation of archaeological resources. 

Genealogical and historical research has also assisted in developing the Warner family story.  As a direct descendant, the author has been afforded unobstructed access to family historical, genealogical, archaeological, and personal resources providing for multiple dimensions of evidence that can be cross-verified.  Family stories passed from generation to generation have been tested against empirical data collected archaeologically and have been found to be mostly true.  Over 5,000 photographs and documents have been scanned at high resolution with some used to find the remains of 19^th century features.  Dozens of recorded family interviews and other historical research has aided in the understanding of artifact spatial analysis and feature location.  The study of possessions located in the house has not only rounded out the material culture of the family but also has allowed for a cross-comparison of artifacts recovered on the site that aided in their interpretation and identification.  Further, a greater understanding of functional use longevity and eventual depositional patterns throughout the living space area has been aided by this multi-faceted approach.

Excavation of single-family domestic mid-19^th century sites in Michigan is relatively underrepresented especially when compared to the number of prehistoric sites researched over the past seventy-five years.  Although no official records are kept, the Warner site might also be distinctive as one excavated by a direct descendant as well as one of the few, if not only, sesquicentennial farms researched in Michigan.  Further, artifacts recovered at Warner might also be considered unique in coming from one of the only sites in Michigan where archaeological techniques have revealed artifacts manufactured by the principal excavator.  The author has been making wheel thrown pottery since 1996 and much of it had been distributed throughout the family over time.  While surface collecting one of the plowed garden areas, the author discovered two sherds of a wheel thrown cup made in April 2002 among late 19^th century ceramics deposited similarly to those used over a century ago.

The Warner site has much to offer regarding more fully understanding 19^th century Michigan farm life through recovered artifacts.  The family’s initial subsistence farming strategy that was converted into a successful, progressive farming strategy during the mid 1850s is reflected in the archaeological record.  Thousands of thumbnail to palm-sized sherds of nearly two-dozen identified patterns found at the site indicate that the family utilized a disparate set of ceramic patterns during the frontier/log cabin period.  When the frame house was built in 1855, the family purchased a relatively expensive blue transferware set in a pattern called “Sydenham” manufactured by Joseph Clementson of Shelton, England.  Interestingly, sherds with the Clementson backmark as well as an importer of his wares, Davenport Brothers located in New York, have been found on the site shedding light on distribution patterns of goods from as far way as England.  The discovery of a brown handleless cup in the crawl space below the 1855 house has also aided in dating this unregistered pattern.

Examination of family possessions and interviews with senior family members has also provided important insights into a more complete material culture of the family and also use longevity.  A matching blue tureen in the "Sydenham" pattern found in the house matches sherds discarded in a sheet midden in the back yard.  Family members indicate that this pattern was in use even into the 1930s, suggesting a nearly eighty-year utilization of a dish set purchased in the mid 1850s.  Another pattern, “Trentham” by Edge, Malkin & Co. registered in 1888, was also archaeologically recovered and matches four complete dinner plates stored in the china cabinet, intact over 120 years later.

Generational quality of life changes are also reflected in the archaeological record.  Given the farm’s 185+ year history, a study of diagnostic artifacts such as identifiable ceramics could provide clues to changes in wealth and status from one generation to another as well as the availability of goods over time.  Since the farm has remained in the same family, the experiences of successive generations would have been shared with previous ones providing for more accurate indicators of wealth and status changes as opposed to an unrelated family with a different social and financial background occupying the site.  This change is most obvious at the turn of the 20^th century when the farm is inherited by Timothy and Lucretia’s son George.  The family begins to depart from the more expensive transferware patterns to utilize cheaper plain white ironstone.

Twenty-one excavated features have yielded important information regarding midden use and distribution.  Further, excavation of nearly 5,000 square feet in the immediate back yard living space has provided further understanding of the sheet midden and overlapping pattern of artifacts from the log cabin occupation and that of the house as well as the use of the intermediate space around the house.  Since the locations of ten outbuildings are known, testing of these sites can concentrate on the surviving structural remains, functionality, and development under the progressive farm model rather than simply their discovery.  The site was also used to test the effectiveness of non-intrusive geophysical remote sensing methods to determine viability of this technique on long occupied farmstead sites.

Excavation in future seasons will focus on a number of research interests from varying regions within the habitation area of the site.  Investigation of the “blacksmith” shop, partially excavated in previous seasons, will be completed to reveal the entire dry set boulder foundation.  Test units will be placed where positive soil samples for potassium, calcium, or phosphate were found.  Excavation of an area that has the potential to be associated with the log cabin will be tested in hopes of revealing artifacts from the frontier period as well as those used for barter and trade, especially with Native American groups.

Public awareness of discoveries has been made through nearly a dozen published articles including in periodicals such as Michigan History, the Chronicle, the Saginaw Valley Archaeologist, and the Michigan Archaeologist as well as local newspapers and newsletters.  Numerous presentations given to local, regional, and statewide organizations at various locations throughout Michigan have provided further attention to the project.  Displays at the annual Archaeology Day events held at the Michigan History Center in Lansing over the past several years have also brought exposure of the Warner family story.

The well-documented history of the family has the potential to aid in archaeological research strategies on other domestic 19^th century Michigan farmsteads.  Since the locations of ten outbuildings and their uses are known, valuable information can be gleaned to aid in the interpretation of site layout and function on other comparable sites.  Further, the use of the region around the main house and between the outbuildings has been revealed in part by intensive archaeological investigation utilizing a number of methods.  Analysis of personal items in the home further augments our understanding in regards to material culture and eventual deposition as discarded artifacts.  The long history of the family beginning in the frontier period of Michigan to the current day studied through a combination of historical, genealogical, and archaeological techniques has the potential to add to the growing body of knowledge of lifestyle experiences and changes on Michigan 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st century farms.