Deerfield employees Paul and Sandy Yager participated in an archeological dig this week while on vacation in Chincoteague, VA this month.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources is investigating Camp Fletcher, the site of a temporary WWII Army base on Chincoteague Island, VA. While the base and its location were well known at the time, most people are not aware of the large amounts of submarine activity and shipping damage that happened off the coast early in the war. It was only recently revealed that the 80 men and 24 terrier dogs stationed there were charged with guarding the coast from German UBoats and potential landings.
We marked out a grid on the site and dug shovel test pits every 25 feet. Those STPs that yielded any interesting artifacts were next selected for 3’x3’ dig units. We ultimately dug 5 pits, carefully screening every inch of soil and scraping each level clean. We took measurements, notes, and photos, and wrote reports before finally filling the holes back in. While no military-specific artifacts were uncovered, we did find pottery and glass fragments, nails, a penny, ceramic electrical insulators, coal, and other bits of debris. The most interesting find was a native stone scraping tool, which only trained eyes could identify!
