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Structure 3

Structure 3 at Site 44JC969 is a rectangular building estimated to measure 15 x 20 feet. As with nearby Structure 1, no structural or enclosure-related posthole features were identified in direct association with Structure 3. Indeed, Structure 3 is less visible archaeologically than any of the other structures, so interpretations of its above-ground characteristics are limited. Though the feature assemblage directly associated with Structure 3 includes only one subfloor pit and a subfloor depression, the similarity of these features to those of the other structures suggests that all the structures represent the same general occupation. Thus, the estimated dimensions of Structure 3 are considered to be similar to the other structures, given an absence of archaeological evidence to the contrary.

No evidence of a hearth or chimney base was identified for Structure 3, though a 6.6-x-6.6-foot (2-x-2-meter) area at the interpreted southeast end of the structure could not be excavated due to the presence of a large tree. Thus, it is quite possible that a hearth/chimney was located within the unexcavated locus. Such a layout would be consistent with those of the other two fully excavated structures at the site, reflecting the placement of hearths at the southeast ends of the dwellings.

Structure 3 may not have been occupied as long or used as intensively as the other structures on the site. Apparently, it contained only one shallow subfloor pit, filled with a relatively sterile primary deposit. The orientation of the subfloor pit is about 15 degrees different than that of the other subfloor pits on the site, suggesting that Structure 3 was not oriented on the same alignment as the other three structures, which in turn raises a possiblity that Structure 3 was not constructed at the same time as the other identified structures. Log or frame cabins built entirely above-ground largely replaced earthfast structures (with wooden supports sunk into the ground) as slave housing by the late eighteenth century, which may suggest that both Structures 1 and 3 were built later than Structure 2. Furthermore, the different alignments of Structures 1 and 3 coupled with the fact that pearlware ceramics occur most frequently in the topsoil around Structure 3 may reflect that Structure 3 was constructed later than Structure 1. In addition, the probability that Structure 3 had a shorter occupation than the other structures is consistent with the interpretation that it may have been constructed nearer the abandonment of the site than the other structures were.