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Clinton News-Record, 1976-05-27, Page 15in the fall or 1173. David 'Newlonlis, co r at o AS4islant, Canadiana PePartment of the 'loyal 1ato1e Museum. noticed 'lettres:sions in the land arlaCe and fragments of old licrY along Moo south bank the Bayfield River in Meadville. To the ordinary Vie , er,futhey meant nothing, 144 te the archaeologist, they filftrite(1' an excellent location • tor a "dig." 4 waS the site of the Huron etterY, founded in 1852 by Valentine Boohler. a German mmigrant. Until 1915, a ,,Stteession of five petters ' produced an assortment of vessels, and the last owner of \ the business, Ferdinand 'hurgarci, was •a nephew of the first potter. The Huron 'Pottery was one of Ontario's longest -operating potteries. When the kiln was demolished in 1919, the unsold wares and the potter's tools were thrown into the cellar, which served as a local refuse durup for several years. David Newlands suspected the soil held artifacts of ar- chaeological worth, and he was not disappointed. The Royal Ontario . Museum sponsored 'digs' at the site in 1974 and 1975. In addition, in 1975 and 1976, excavations were licenced by the minister of culture and recreation of Ontario. For four weeks in the NW$RORPTHVRS archaeological litudents from Wilfrid, Laurier University worked under the supervision of director David islewlands and khe assistant-dirvetor, Or. Eduard Riegert of W.L.U. They Uncovered the remains of the pottery kiln, which consisted of a stone andbrick hose. The kiln was circular in shape and aeoroxirnately 151 in diameter with four firemouths each measuring 4W wide by 3' long. Two important artifacts were discovered in a series of test pits dug near the kiln. One was a fragMent of a amid; the other was a body sherd decorated with an applied pattern. A pottery sherd is a piece of a vessel, such as a rim. ya handle, a spout, a base or part of the body. The second season of ex- cavations took place in July 1975. G.ridded squares were dug over the area believed to be the pottery cellar, and eventually the wood floor was uncovered. Several intact vessels of a shape and colour not previously attributed to the Huron Pottery were unearthed. Other artifacts included glaze -grinding wheels, moulds for making decorative patterns for pots. plaster of paris forms for slip moulding of lids and unglazed examples of finials used for decoration on buildings. Five of the decorative moulds , were signed --and dated: one bearing the This intact crockery 1Ld was one of the first artifacts retrieved this year from the cellar of the Huron Pottery in Egmottdville. In previous digs, thousands of pOttery sherds were discovered as well as several potter's tools, the first collection of tools obtained from a Canadian pottery. signature of Jacob Weber, the second owner of the business. The highlight of the dig was the discovery of the potter's tools, which is the first collection of tools obtained from a Canadian pottery. The accumulation of such -valuable artifacts in the excavation of less than half of the pottery cellar warranted a third dig in May 1976. Enthusiasm ran high. In fact. three straight days of rain at the beginning of this year's project didn't stop the 17 W.L.U. students and their supervisors from workin?. The team divided into a dig crew and a field lab crew. The diggers' first task was to remove the gravel that had been dumped into the cellar at the end of the last season's Hilary West and David Newlands (project director) examine some artifacts discovered in the 'grid' area. The other diggers are (I. to r.) Willie Nassau, Juliet Galin and Brenda Silverry. KICK-OFF SALE Continues! AT COUNTER CASH. St CARRY Until Saturday, May 29 Don't miss your chance to take advantage of the many Kick -Off specials and to qualify in the power saw draw. The enthusiasm generated in this sale has been tremendous - obviously the many satisfied shoppers know a good thing when. they see it - Quality Products, convenient services. and prices which take a bit of beating. Refer to page 20 of the May III Huron Shop- ping News for a complete list of sale items. .6raw for Black 8 Decker Saw will be made by Chief Lloyd Westlake et noon, Saturday. May 29. COUNTER CASH & CARRY Building Supplies 482 9612 •11 exCavation. Sheet% 01 1.0.10slic anchored . With bricks Protected the wooden floor. Then the crew enlarged the co.e itY • To study the stratigratithy, they rentoved the -# soil in layers and examined each one. Some of the layers were man-made. For example. under the topsoil. brick rubble and household debris were mixed with ash and clay.*The next layer consisted primarily of :tsh and clay. and •at the . hottom was heav . am. p, In deseribin e work. David Newlan s explained. "We want to make clear to the public as well as the students the 'method' of excavating. Anyone can dig up a back yard, but we. remove the soil layer by layer. analysing each one." Amid the layers of soil. the dig crew discovered an intact crockery lid, half of a hanging, flowerpot and thousands of • smaller pottery fragments. The sherds were placed in numbered artifact buckets and transported to the field lab, which was located across the river in the Van Egmond House. Then the lab crew carefully washed the fragments with soft -bristle brushes. They registered each sherd with a code showing its origin and marked the code in indelible ink on an unobtrusive surface of the fragment After the artifacts were labelled, Willie 'Nassau, a staff photographer from W.L.U., photographed them in his makeshift studio in an upstairsbedroom. He turned a washroom into a fully - equipped dark room, in which he developed both black and white and colour films. Upon the completion of the registering of the artifacts. they were securely packed for shipping to the research laboratory for more ex- tensive study. Behind the Van Egmond House. a group of tents was home to the excavators during their three week dig, and they prepared their meals in the Van Egmond kitchen. Although the weather was uncooperative, the crew perserved to add to the collection of artifacts retained from .,the previous digs. Summing up the series of excavations at the Huron Pottery site. David Newlands terms the discovery of the pottery -making tools an archaeological breakthrough. It, -7. 10110110 ror"vsniv imemi "1" immt-ts :I:I:- of 31.1111 L'1 Ns The electrical rush hour- 5 to 7 p.m. Try to avoid it. During the winter months. the rush hour for electricity is -between 5 and 7 pm. That's when more lights are turned on. the heat is turned up. meats are cooked: radios and TV sets come on. These all add up to create the rush hour for electricity. Your Hydro has to supply the power to meet this extra demand And the higher the demand. the more facilities are needed. more transmission tines. trans- formers, generating units . all contributing to the cost of power Anything you can do to avoid the rush hour will lighten the load. Of course. you can't turn everything off at this time. but there are some things you can do. Try not to use the clothes washer. dryer, dishwasher and other big appliances during rush hour Don't turn on TV until you are ready to watch it. Take baths or showers later in the evening, or first thing in the morning. If enough of us use less electricity during the rush hour, it will help to conserve valuable resources. and to keep cost down. your hydro 0.1NTON MURK UTILITES COMMISSION In his makeshift studio in an upstairs bedroom of the Van Egmond House, Willie Nassau, a photographer from W.L.U., photographs one of the artifacts. In addition. information was gathered on the size. shape and method of construction of the pottery kiln. Artifacts were recovered that in- dicated the complete range of types and sizes of vessels manufactured during each period of the pottery's history. Information was also obtained on pottery -making techniques. including the methods of kiln -loading and kiln -firing. The thousands of rims. handles, spouts, bases and decorated body sherds retrieved from the cellar will help to identify the pottery types. Some of the sherds will be joined to form intact vessels. and they will be compared with the sherds found in a a 1973 excavation Starand photos by Elaine lowfishend at the site of the David Burns Pottery near Holrnesville. While the Huron Pottery represented a 'Germanic tradition. the Burns Pottery manufactured an 'English tradition'. A comparison of the artifacts from the two Huron County potteries will show the distinctions between the two styles and will allow an in-depth study of the types 4,1,134 styles of pottery manufactured in the county during the nineteenth cen- tury. Match was gained from the excavations at the Huron Pottery site. Archaeological students from W L. U. received valuable ex- perience; the Royal Ontario Museum obtained the first collection of potter's tools from a Canadian pottery. as well as several other notable artifacts and a wealth of information. Moreover, the residents of Egmondville and Huron County found another reason to take pride in the county's past. YAMAHA Sales and Service At Country Corner you'll find a complete line of Yamaha snowmobiles and motorcycles. Worried about service? We have a full-time Yamaha mechanic on staff. COu NTRY FINER STORES NIT. CARMEL 237-3456 Open daily to 10p.m. Sundays to 6 p.m. THE BASE FACTCAY OUTLET "The Store That Saves You More' _ RAINBOW OF COLORS,T001 Plain or Patterned Bedsheets Now all Specially Priced. 7 COLOURS - BANANA, BRONZE. GOLD. BROWN. BLUE, PINK, NATURAL. Tru-Prest Bedsheets $7.77 $7.77 $ •67 $8•87 $ 1 1 •.27 $1 'I .27 1 DOUBLE - FLAT al tit -100 QUEEN -SIZE FITTED 60 x 10 • KING-SIZE FITTED .711 x 10 KING4IZE FLAT x ItO THE BASE TORY T ET A 1-4,,0hwol. 4 - South of (ihnIcon 'The Stsr• thee %overly, Mete • MEN s -BOYS LADIES GIRLS & eaev WEAR YARD GOODS - FURNITURE •-',AATTRESEEE- PAINT- SAWING MACHINEE- WALL APPLIARtEE—L AMOS STralltl Monday- SatUrdaY Friday 0120 St30 'III 91011 P.M* '