Digging into the past without digging at all
Archaeology group
unearths facts that paint vivid pictures of battles
The grounds at Monmouth Battlefield State Park hold evidence of more than the struggle for American independence. Exploration by a group of amateur archaeologists has revealed the site to be rich in artifacts, some dating to prehistoric times.
"The battlefield history dates from prehistory to post-Civil War. It includes military history and prehistoric Native American, Revolutionary War and Civil War history," said avocational archaeologist Dan Sivilich. "It’s really kind of a neat place to be."
Not only have amateur archaeologists uncovered artifacts from other eras, but their work has revised history, Sivilich told the audience at "The Ladies from Hell," a multimedia presentation held recently at J.W. Ross Cultural Center and Library in Sea Bright, about the repulse of the 42nd British Regiment, a brigade of Highlanders, at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.
Using modern tools like computer-aided mapping to plot the location of musket balls and other artifacts, amateur archaeologists succeeded in establishing that the battle actually took place a half-mile east of the location widely believed to be the site of one of the decisive battles in the colonial struggle for independence, Sivilich said.
"We have rewritten the history of the battle based on the archaeology uncovered," he said. "Had that not occurred, we would have a completely misconstrued history of the battle."
Sivilich is an expert in battlefield archaeology and is currently part of a group working on an archaeological survey of Monmouth Battlefield State Park with a state-approved permit. Since 1990, he and other amateur archaeologists have recovered more than 6,000 historical artifacts excavated at the 300-acre site.
Founder and past president of Friends of Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Sivilich helped found the Battlefield Restoration and Archaeological Volunteer Organization (BRAVO) in 1999 to raise awareness of and help preserve historically significant sites as well as to provide basic training in archaeology to volunteers.
A statewide nonprofit group, BRAVO has been called on to assist the state Park Service, municipal governments and professional archaeological consulting companies.
BRAVO members recently completed a survey at the Johnson Avenue cemetery in Matawan, where at least four black Civil War soldiers are buried, and conducted a metal-detecting survey at Christ Church Episcopal in Shrewsbury, searching for Revolutionary War artifacts. The group is currently excavating at Old Scots Cemetery in Marlboro, the location of the first Old Tennent Church.
Based at Battlefield State Park, BRAVO meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at Old Scots’ Hall at Tennent Church on Tennent Road in Manalapan. Volunteers as young as 10 are members of the group, which numbers 80. Bravo can be contacted at [email protected].
According to Sivilich, his interest in battlefield archaeology began when he acquired a metal detector in 1972 to search for treasure washed up on the beach from shipwrecks. He discovered that his real interest was in looking for older coins.
"They fascinated me, so I started looking in places where you find old coins like old farm fields," he said.
A Freehold resident, Sivilich would often pass a certain farm field on Wemrock Road but couldn’t get the farmer’s permission to search there.
The field remained off limits until 1987, when Sivilich noticed the farmhouse being moved to make way for development. He got permission to explore the field — and found his avocation as an expert in battlefield archaeology.
"I brought out my metal detector and was looking for old coins," he recalled. "I didn’t find any, but I found 19 musket balls. I said, ‘That’s odd. I’m standing across the street from a battlefield. How come I’m finding musket balls here?’ "
His interest piqued, Sivilich decided to map their location, and he asked members of his metal detecting club to help.
"In the process of doing all of this, my mapping skills got better and I was refining techniques," Sivilich noted. "I found out nobody had ever done this before."
By 1990, the state archaeologist had heard about the work and asked the group to help with a project at the park.
"We began a partnership with the state Park Service to do metal-detecting surveys at Monmouth Battlefield," Sivilich explained. "There was no study before this. As a matter of fact, we are the second battlefield in the country ever to be excavated."
In 1999, BRAVO evolved from this group as an organization focused specifically on military archaeology. Working solely on weekends, club members continue surveying the battlefield grounds but have extended their mission as well as their methods.
"We still look for military artifacts," Sivilich said, "but we’ve gotten involved in much more comprehensive archaeology at Monmouth Battlefield. We’re no longer restricted to military. We’ve found 19 major Native American campsites. BRAVO has expanded our horizons."
Monmouth Battlefield was also a site used for training Civil War troops, Sivilich explained, and is the site of the only remaining encampment, Camp Vredenburg, where from 1862-64, the 14th, 28th, 29th and part of the 35th regiments were trained.
According to Sivilich, avocational archaeologists have helped to spur exploration and preservation of historic sites.
After he presented a paper on battlefield archaeology in 1995, the number of battlefields excavated rose from two to 35.
In addition, they have pioneered the use of unorthodox methods of exploration like metal detectors.
"Computerized metal detectors provide a wealth of data without disturbing a site," he explained. "They can tell how deep a target is, its probable metallic composition, the probable denomination of a coin and the probable caliber of a musket ball."
But amateurs who used the detectors were looked on as "pot hunters" by the professionals, he said, until his paper changed that perception as well.
"After 1995, the concept of handling metal detectors gained acceptance," he said. "Professionals said, ‘They’re a tool if used properly.’
"The limitations of computerized metal detectors are that they can read metal objects only down to a certain depth. So there is still a place for traditional methods of excavation," Sivilich acknowledged.
Another new technology in use by BRAVO members is surface-penetrating radar that allows archaeologists to locate a disturbance in the soil such as a grave shaft.
At Monmouth Battlefield, Sivilich used computer-aided drawing software to map the location of artifacts, yielding a broader picture than traditional methods of excavating small grids.
The mapping technique has revealed large-scale movements like battle patterns and troop retreats that took place at the battle.
"We took lists of data and dumped them into the computer, and I was probably the most shocked," Sivilich said of the findings, which he noted provided new insight and altered the historical record of the course of the battle, the types of munitions used and the movement of troops.
Future archaeological excavations will continue the use of classical methods, but reliance on state-of-the art technology will increase, Sivilich predicted.
"Archaeology is a destructive tool," he noted. "You collect data but destroy the site. One day we may have equipment that lets you see the artifacts on the site without having to remove them."