Old Mobile (1MB94) Structure 31, Mobile County, Alabama.
Summary
Structure 31 at the Old Mobile site (1MB94) was excavated from 1996 to 2002. This one-room building, constructed in the pieux-en-terre style, had subsurface wall trenches preserved below plowzone. A doorway was visible in the middle of the southwest wall. An additional wall trench extension off the northeast wall may indicate the location of a bread oven platform and hearth. A large pit dug for building material adjacent to the building was found filled with refuse, including four iron cannonballs, which may comprise a bowling set for the game of boules or petanque. This building is interpreted as a soldier's barracks, based on associated artifacts and proximity to Fort Louis immediately to the east. Structure 31, as well as 30 and 32, are thought to be barracks constructed by the garrison in 1706, at Commandant Bienville's order, to provide sleeping quarters for groups of six soldiers. Numerous square post holes dating to around 1900, intrusive on the French colonial features, held wooden piers for a raised structure, either a hunting camp or a portion of a logging camp located immediately to the north.
Cite this Record
Old Mobile (1MB94) Structure 31, Mobile County, Alabama.. ( tDAR id: 380898) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8X63PC8
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
Culture
Euroamerican
•
French Colonial
•
French Colonial Period
•
Historic
•
Historic Native American
Material
Building Materials
•
Ceramic
•
Chipped Stone
•
Fauna
•
Glass
•
Metal
Site Name
1MB94
•
Old Mobile
•
Structure 31
Site Type
Barracks
•
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
•
Domestic Structures
•
Hamlet / Village
•
Historic Structure
•
Military Structure
•
Settlements
•
Structure
Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation
•
Heritage Management
•
Historic Background Research
•
Reconnaissance / Survey
•
Remote Sensing
•
Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
•
Site Evaluation / Testing
•
Site Stewardship Monitoring
General
Fort Louis
•
Old Mobile
Geographic Keywords
Mobile River
•
MOBILE RIVER DRAINAGE
Temporal Keywords
Colonial Period
•
Historical Period
•
Historical Sites and Artifacts
Temporal Coverage
Calendar Date: 1702 to 1711
Spatial Coverage
min long: -88.026; min lat: 30.942 ; max long: -87.971; max lat: 30.983 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies
Contributor(s): Bonnie L. Gums; George W. Shorter, Jr.
Project Director(s): Gregory Waselkov
Prepared By(s): University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies
Record Identifiers
2004.077(s): Accession Number
Source Collections
University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies Old Mobile Collection 2004.077
University of South Alabama Archaeology Museum Old Mobile Collection 2004.077
Related Comparative Collections
University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies Port Dauphin Village Collection 1997.005