It is a hope to excavate more at the site where Fort Germanna is believed to have existed. It may involve moving quite a bit of earth if Spotswood leveled out or built up the area prior to erecting his house. Since the projected location is under Spotswood's home, the question arises as to whether the house might be disturbed. The ruins have been looked at by the archaeologists and what they have found of the home is minimal. This is because the house was deliberately abandoned and much of the material in it was appropriated for use elsewhere. Later the remains were set on fire. That this is the sequence, is told by what was not found. Had the house burned while it was being lived in, the debris would have included tangible pieces of objects used in a home such as pottery. But there were no pottery pieces, which tells us that it was emptied before it was burned. Also, there are not enough bricks in the rubble, which tells us that they were taken for use elsewhere. About all that is left of the house is its outline in the ground and some of the below ground level structure.
Since a short length of the palisade has been found, the work will concentrate upon extended its lines. Once it is found, the blockhouse will be easy to locate, since it was in the center of the fort. The signs in the earth for the blockhouse should be clear, since it was a five sided structure, which is unique. We do not know at present how the blockhouse was constructed. There are two methods which might have been used. Logs might have been set vertically. If they were, there should be clear stains below the level of the ground. This type of construction is known as "earthfast", and is a type of building construction common in the Chesapeake region during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If the blockhouse were constructed from a horizontal lay up of the logs, the impression and stains in the ground should be weaker. We are assuming it was built of wood, the common construction method of the times.
To the Germanna descendants, especially those of the First Colony, finding the nine homes would be more exciting. The essentially linear arrangement, with larger structures on one side, and the smaller structures on the other, would be a major clue. (But if the houses should be found, it will lead to discussions and arguments about which house belonged to which family!) Besides the structures themselves, cellars, pits for excavating clay, and even pig wallows, might be distinguished. Then of course there would be some domestic debris, though the short period of the occupation would limit the quantity.
All of Fontaine's references imply that he thought of it more as a settlement than as a fort. He called it a town, especially German Town. So, it should probably be thought of more as an enclosed settlement than as a first-rate fort. It was not an engineering stronghold with corner bastions to assist in protecting the outsides of the palisades. Hostile Indians could readily have set a fire against the palisade and destroyed it. Fort Germanna followed the standard of the times by being constructed as a light barrier, surrounding a series of houses.
During the four or five years of its existence, the Indian frontier moved to the west. In fact, by 1717 or 1718, Germans were settled farther to the west without any fort. Fort Germanna even more definitively had lost it military value and had become another settlement.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.