Annapolis residents allow digging

Using only basic tools such as trowels and shovels, a university archaeology team delved into the earth beneath a sidewalk in the heart of Annapolis. Although water began to well up, the team pressed on in search of trinkets, old coins and pottery - anything that might provide links to the state capital's past.

The research team's persistence finally paid off in late April when, four feet below the earth, it found a 3-foot span of six parallel logs, each spaced about an inch and a half apart. After comparing colonial maps and records, the team realized it had found the remnants of a log road built at the end of the 17th century, making it one of the oldest archaeological finds in the Washington area, according to a press release.

Residents in surrounding houses were so enthusiastic about the findings that they agreed late last week to let the diggers tear up their property in an effort to unearth more finds and learn more about Annapolis' history, according to Matthew Palus, the dig's project manager.

"We really like to see a city taking its own history so seriously," Palus said.

"This road is very important because it could tie to the first survey for the city of Annapolis," added Annapolis historian Tony Lindaer, who explained the location of the road corresponded with a dotted line on an old map of the city which had previously been unidentified. The road may have been constructed to allow carts with thin wooden wheels to traverse what was once a very marshy area, he said.

Despite the frustration they caused, the pools of water the team encountered turned out to be vital to the old road's discovery. While other log roads believed to have been built in the Annapolis area have long since rotted, these particular logs were mired in saltwater and covered in silt and clay - perfect preservation conditions, according to those familiar with the dig.

The dig is part of Archaeology in Annapolis, a research partnership that was formed in 1981 between the university and the Historic Annapolis Foundation. City planners have frequently contracted with Archaeology in Annapolis diggers to excavate the sites of future municipal projects to make sure no archaeological records could be lost during construction. Over the years, work stemming from the project has uncovered artifacts from an 18th-century print shop that was used to protest British rule, as well as evidence of "hoodoo" rituals - a spiritual practice that resembles voodoo.

Annapolis contains a wealth of artifacts, diggers said.

"There's no place you can dig that you won't [find] something interesting," Palus said.

The archaeological team was digging near the log road after being contracted to excavate the area where Annapolis officials wanted to place underground utility cables. Palus said the excavation will be continued over the summer, when the university holds its annual field school at roughly the same location in hopes of uncovering more sections of the log road.

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