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Archaeology
These two pewter buttons, marked with the insignia of the Third Guard, reflect the British occupation of Raritan Landing during the Revolutionary War. |
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New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) archaeologists conducted archaeological investigations in 1977 in the area for the proposed Landing Lane bridge replacement and road alignment. The NJDOT archaeologists recovered 18th and early 19th-century artifacts and exposed a foundation belonging to one of the many buildings that stood within the community of Raritan Landing. In 1978, the Rutgers Archaeological Survey Office (RASO) excavated near the corner of Landing Lane and River Road within the alignment of a proposed sewer line paralleling River Road. The RASO team uncovered foundations and 18th-century artifacts. As a result of RASO's work, and additional investigations involving the use of ground penetrating radar to define the extent of the area's archaeological remains, property along River Road and Landing Lane was designated as the Raritan Landing Archaeological District. The district was then listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1979. RASO conducted full excavations within the limits of the proposed sewer line, exposing four building foundations and recovering thousands of artifacts from Raritan Landing's commercial and residential lots. Additional work by NJDOT archaeologists in 1980 extended the boundaries of the archaeological district to its current eastern limits and, in 1984, identified sites west of the current district.
In 1993, excavations at the intersection of Landing Lane and River Road by NJDOT and Rutgers University's Center for Public Archaeology uncovered part of the foundation wall of a large 18th-century warehouse. In conjunction with Hunter Research, the Center excavated a swath of land along the north side of River Road where a well and part of the foundation of another warehouse or a barn were located. The Center also investigated several sites within and west of the archaeological district prior to roadway improvements along River Road and Metlars Lane between 1992 and 1994. As preparation for data recovery excavations, the Center combined new archaeological field information and data from remote sensing surveys to identify areas with a high potential for archaeological remains. Excavations by the Center examined several foundations, recovered numerous domestic, commercial, and military artifacts, and identified a possible British encampment.
RASO used the ground penetrating results to delineate the boundaries of the buried remains of Raritan Landing adjacent to the corner of Landing Lane and River Road. The color-coded underground map showed the various depths of radar hits beneath the surface.
RASO's
excavation corridor was only 15 feet wide, the width of the trench for
the sewer pipe which was laid after the excavation had been completed.
This small structure was full of burned debris and had probably been destroyed
during the Revolutionary War.