Students find treasures of the past at Robbins House dig

Third-graders from Sharon School and seventh-graders from Pond Road Middle School participated in an archaeology dig at the Robbins House.

By: Lauren Burgoon
   WASHINGTON — The township’s long history is well documented in archives but many physical remnants of Washington’s history are untouched and buried deep in the ground. That’s where dozens of students stepped in Monday to help uncover evidence of their town’s past.
   Third-graders from Sharon School and seventh-graders from Pond Road Middle School teamed up this week to conduct the first archaeology dig at the Robbins House, a Windsor Road historical site preserved and renovated. The students, led by their teachers, spent Monday exploring dozens of holes bored into the house’s backyard to search for artifacts.
   That area of Washington near the Assunpink Creek is well known as a stomping ground for Colonists and Native Americans. The Robbins House also was a private home for years, meaning that there was any number of artifacts buried around the home.
   "We are expecting to find a lot of pottery, some glass, even some arrowheads," third-grade teacher Cathy Zahn said before the dig.
   By day’s end the students had found those things and more. Discoveries ranged from arrowheads that could be hundreds or even thousands of years old to more modern booty — one group excitedly announced they found a penny that turned out to be from 1974. That makes sense, Ms. Zahn assured her students, because that was around the last time people lived in the house before it was renovated.
   Monday’s dig started out with a brief history lesson by Ian Burrow, a principal archaeologist at Hunter Research in Trenton. Dr. Burrow introduced students to the Robbins House and clued them into how they could tell when the house was built, such as by looking at the architecture, building materials and evidence of the home on historic maps.
   Dr. Burrow then took the students to the holes, where they were able to dig into the ground and sift through the dirt using mesh screens. As the students shook the screens back and forth, loose dirt fell through and rocks and artifacts remained behind for the students to pluck out, catalogue and save.
   "What you have to learn is how to recognize things through the dirt," Dr. Burrow advised, showing the students and parent volunteers what were rocks versus pieces of slate, pottery, coal and arrowheads.
   The students were clearly into the dig. Within minutes each group, mixed with older and younger students, was triumphantly announcing its finds. The classes filled bags with pieces of Washington’s history by the end of the day. Wednesday the third-graders cleaned every piece and tomorrow (Friday) Dr. Burrow will return to Washington to go over the discoveries and help the students understand what they have uncovered. Later the artifacts will likely be stored in town for future classes to study.
   Monday’s dig was the grand event of related learning units for both the third and seventh grades.
   "In our science class we just studied rocks and minerals so this segue perfectly into that. We also studied the township’s history and looked at historical documents. Then we studied soil samples so they could get an idea of what kind of dirt they would be looking through," Ms. Zahn said.
   Seventh-grade teacher Blake Kilgore said his students met with Ms. Zahn’s beforehand so they could practice working in teams. Mr. Kilgore’s students also concentrated on properly recording each artifact.
   Washington students were able to complete their dig thanks to $4,000 in grant money used to hire the buses and provide equipment. The Washington Township Education Foundation gave $1,000 toward the activity and the New Jersey Historic Commission supplied the rest.