The
Avery’s Rest Site
Avery’s Rest is a 17th-century site listed in the National Register of
Historic Places in 1978. When a
developer planned to build houses here, the Archaeological Society of Delaware
and the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs asked for
permission to dig the site. The
developer was very cooperative and allowed us to work on the site from 2006
through 2007.
Captain John Avery moved to this site from Maryland
in 1675. He eventually had 800
acres of land on
Rehoboth
Bay, which shows he was a wealthy man. Avery was a leader of the first generation
of Englishmen to settle in
Delaware. He played a key role in the
development of southern
Delaware. He was once Master of a sloop in
Maryland. After moving to the Lewes area, he
became a Captain of the Militia. Governor
Andros appointed him a Justice of the Peace of Whorekill Court in 1678.
However, Avery was a controversial figure with a colorful legal history.
People complained about his conduct as a Justice. He
was known to shout abuse at his fellow Justices and often lost his temper with
others.
According to his will and the inventory taken after his death, Avery’s
household included his wife Sarah, three children, and two slaves.
With their help, he managed 50 head of cattle and other livestock. We found many animal bones, which may be from butchering the cattle for
trade. This site shows us the larger
pattern of a colonial plantation providing food stuffs and raw supplies for the
British world.
He lived here until his death
in 1682. The archaeology suggests
the site was still lived at after his death.
This may have been his widow or possibly the daughter who inherited this
part of his lands.
The 2008 Archaeology Month poster shows the three people who directed the site
at different times: Susan Ritter,
Peter Bon, and Dan Griffith. They gave so
much of their time to lead our efforts to locate and excavate this very
important site. We thank them, as
well as the many other volunteers from the ASD, Heite Consulting, Inc.,
Wesley
College, and the University
of
Delaware. Everyone has worked hard to
explore this very important site. We
owe Heite Consulting another vote of thanks for allowing us to use their
laboratory for washing, labeling, and identifying the artifacts from our two
seasons of digging.
Among the key finds of the 2007 season were two wells, a fence line, and
numerous small pits, probably dug to get clay.
Clay can be used to make bricks, although not many bricks have been
found. Wet clay was also spread on
wooden chimneys to keep them from catching fire.
On the poster you will see a faceted, wound-glass bead, greatly enlarged,
and one of the pipe bowls found. Among
other finds were part of a Spanish coin, brass buckles from horse harness,
Staffordshire slipware from
England
, Rhenish blue and grey stoneware from Germany, and lots of animal bones. At the
bottom of one well, the constantly wet conditions preserved part of the wooden
casing that once lined the well. But
we didn’t find the house.
We found that the site runs into the neighboring property.
The owner gave us permission to dig on his land to look for the house.
During 2008, we hope to find the core of the site – the house.
So join the ASD and learn more about the site by volunteering and having
fun digging with us!
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Volunteers working on the
site |
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The wooden casing found at the bottom
of one of the wells |
Some of the Staffordshire slipware we
found in one of the wells |
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