Report on the Archaeological Site Examination of the Cistern Room, Furnace Room and Blower Unit Locations in the Mansion House Cellar at Gore Place, Waltham, Massachusetts

A landscape and structural restoration plan for the 45-acre historic estate of Massachusetts governor and United States senator, Christopher Gore and his wife Rebecca, recommended archaeological investigations to identify the location, character and integrity of Gore-period features that could potentially be included in restoration efforts. Recommendations included investigation of the mansion’s extensive cellar in an effort to document Gore-period features, better understand the functioning of cellar spaces and to identify sources of moisture that needed to be addressed as part of the restoration work. Cellar investigations began in 2008 and focused on the cistern room, new furnace locations in the furnace room and heating blower unit locations in the servant’s food preparation room, cellar under the east entryway and under the library. Work in the cistern room revealed the former presence of a marble tile floor 50 cm below the present floor surface, suggesting this room may have functioned as a dairy during the Gore period. The floor was removed and replaced by sand and gravel fill possibly to alleviate moisture problems due to fluctuating levels of ground water. Opening of one excavation unit in the servant’s food preparation room revealed intact brick flooring that likely dates to the Gore period or earlier. Investigations in the furnace room found that the two brick pavements likely date to the Gore period and to the latter 19th century respectively, and cover artifact bearing deposits that contain construction/demolition rubble and ceramics and glass of the pre-Gore and Gore period. Work in the cellar under the east entryway found a Gore or pre-Gore period floor surface consisting of 3 cm of dark brown loam as well as a stone-lined passage that may have carried air to a late 19th-century furnace and possibly to a Gore-period chimney. Opening of one unit in the cellar under the library revealed a brick floor and brick partition wall that date to the pre-Gore or Gore period. Future work on a room-by-room basis will focus on developing a better understanding of these deposits and features.