Identifying and Analyzing Agricultural Landscapes Using Metal-Detector Survey and Nail-Batch Analysis

Abstract

Ephemeral agricultural outbuildings and landscape elements that were integral to the management and production of Virginia plantations, such as barns, sheds, pens, and fence lines, are often difficult to locate and analyze using traditional archaeological survey and excavation techniques. The archaeological signatures of these types of sites are usually characterized by a relatively light scatter of nails, which can be efficiently found and preliminarily interpreted using a combination of metal-detector survey and nail-batch analysis. Drawing upon the historic Montpelier plantation as a case study, this study shows how these survey-level data can help archaeologists begin to interpret how outbuildings were located, constructed, deconstructed, and used in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using these easily replicated methodologies, archaeological data relating to ephemeral rural landscapes from a variety of regions and time periods can be recovered and examined, allowing for more holistic understandings of spaces and places in the past.