Dig It: Layer 2
The hut floor
During
the winter encampment of 1777-1778, Washington's
troops built thousands of log huts at Valley
Forge. The construction of some of them,
particularly those built on sloping ground,
began with the digging of a shallow pit
in the ground in the shape of the hut. After
Washington and his troops left the encampment,
almost all the logs that were used to construct
the huts were carried away by farmers, leaving
very little trace of the impressive log
city that had once been there. The dug-in
hut floors, however, remained as a clearly-visible
archeological feature.
The
huts, approximately 14 by 16 feet in size,
usually had a door built in one end wall
and a fireplace at the other end. The chimney
for the fireplace was commonly made of logs
lined with clay, most of which have unfortunately
disappeared from the archeological record.
In some huts, the fireplace included a stone
hearth at the base. These types of fireplace
hearths have been found to be well-preserved.
Along
the sides of the huts, the soldiers constructed
bunks -- usually with space for 12 enlisted
men or for six of the lower-ranking officers
to sleep. Holes that remain from the posts
that supported the bunks have been found
preserved, and appear as stains in the soil.
When
the soldiers occupied the huts, debris built
up on the floors. Some of the hut floors
may also have been covered with cloth or
mats, or with straw or leaves. Organic materials,
such as these, added to the deposits that
built up on the hut floors. Dropped objects
could easily be lost beneath such floor
coverings, or under the bunks. During archeological
digs, artifacts have been found within the
huts, including fragments of food bones
(sometimes burned in the fireplace), broken
bits of ceramic dishes, and eating utensils,
as well as military gear such as musket
parts, gunflints, and musket balls. Personal
items, such as buttons, have also been found.
The
numbers on the diagram below represent artifacts
found in the hut floor. Click on a number
to see a picture of the artifact.
![](../digit_images/hutplan2.gif)
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