Wood

     Archaeologists found wooden posts and tree trunks along the river floor. On the western bank, these timbers are planks and beams originally taken from buildings in Alexandria. These are the remains of Bailey’s “cribs of stone.”

     On the eastern bank, archaeologists found pine and hardwood tree trunks. Soldiers had removed the branches from the trunks and cut the tips of the trees to a point. Based on their position, they must have placed them in the water with their tops downstream. Yet, historic illustrations had shown the trees placed with their tops facing upstream. A boat mast was also found among the logs that made up the dam on the east bank of the river. This supports the idea that people used any materials they could find to build the dams.

Click on the image to the left for a look at more wooden artifacts from the site.