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ESI was contracted by The Historic New Orleans collection to conduct archeological investigations underneath a Creole cottage located at 726-728 Toulouse Street in New Orleans' Vieux Carré. The floor of the raised cottage was removed, and six contiguous 1 x 1 m units were excavated. Excavation was by natural levels, and all soils were screened through 1/4" mesh. Artifacts from the uppermost four strata indicated that they derived from occupation of and renovations to the existing cottage. Beneath this was a complex series of microstratigraphic events which were interpreted as resulting from the 1788 New Orleans fire. Architectural features within these strata indicated that at the time of the fire, a small, light frame building was located within the area. Large amounts of domestic debris (ceramics, glassware, and animal bone) found in association with the structure's foundations indicated that it was probably a kitchen. Recovered ceramics were consistent with a late-1780s date. Faience and continental European coarsewares dominated the collection, and creamware, which does not appear in large quantities in southeastern Louisiana prior to ca. 1780, was minimally present. Glassware included eighteenth-century, French-manufactured, Bohemian crystal tumbler fragments identical to examples from the Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
The residence associated with the outbuilding apparently fronted on Toulouse Street. A large charred beam which crushed the corner of the foundation of the outbuilding was uncovered. It appeared to have derived from a structure that stood streetward of the outbuilding. Other evidence for the residential structure included a thin (ca. 2 cm thick) lens of black organic material adjacent to the charred beam, which appeared to be the remains of a decomposed wall board.
Beneath the deposits associated with the fire was occupation debris which derived from habitation on the lot prior to 1788. At about 66 cm below datum, a lens of oyster shells was uncovered in the unit located closest to
Toulouse Street. The lens contained faience sherds and was located atop sterile subsoil. The shell lens terminated abruptly in a line approximately parallel to Toulouse Street. Just south of the edge of the shell lens, vertical wood fibers were noted extending parallel to the shell. When the fibers were cleared, it became apparent that they were actually the tops of intact planks, and that this was the remains of the ca. 1731 royal military barracks. Three planks were exposed in their entirety. The bases of the planks rested on the center of a beam that was 33 cm wide and 9 cm thick.
Three planks were removed for conservation. During this procedure, it was noted that there was an additional plank to the west of the three exposed. In addition, a post which measured 22.5 x 24.5 cm at the base was located to the east of the planks. The post was also exposed and removed for conservation.
All of these architectural features were originally subterranean. When constructed, a trench was excavated and the timber was laid as a sill, while the planks formed the wall frame. The post may have served at a main roof support and/or as a door jamb. The archeological remains of this structure conform to Bienville's description of the barracks as constructed of "...of stakes in the ground, roofed with the bad bark of trees, ready to fall, without flooring, without chimney..." ESI’s research on impermanent, earthfast construction and has demonstrated that the term poteaux sur sole actually referred to two distinct building types. One of these is the relatively permanent construction usually associated with the term, and the other the very temporary construction seen at this site.
