| Deposit | No. of fragments | Stem diameters | Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/64" | 5/64" | 6/64" | 7/64" | |||
| Pit B (T.N. 30) | 91 | 29% | 60% | 11% | 1700-1720 | |
| Pit C (T.N. 17, 18) | 82 | 17% | 78% | 5% | 1730-1750 | |
| Pit D (T.N. 23) | 49 | 16% | 63% | 21% | 1730-1740 | |
| Kitchen (T.N. 1) | 55 | 57% | 43% | 1720-1740 | ||
It should be noted that in all cases the samplings are too small for accuracy and that they are based on Mr. Harrington's elementary chart which he, himself, claims to be no more than a point of departure for a new approach to the dating of tobacco-pipe fragments. Nevertheless, the above results do follow fairly closely the dating of the groups arrived at on the evidence of stratigraphy and on the study of associated artifacts of all types.
Since this report was first written, Lewis Binford of the University of Chicago has developed a mathematical formula based on Harrington's chart which enables one to arrive at a mean date for the deposition of a group of pipes. Audrey Noël Hume has subsequently demonstrated that a sampling of approximately 900 fragments is needed to maintain consistent results, and that the degree of accuracy rapidly falls off when dealing with groups of pipes dating earlier than 1670 and later than 1760.[117] Fortunately, the Tutter's Neck pipes, though few in number, do fall within the period of greatest accuracy. The following table illustrates the relationships between dates arrived at on the basis of all artifactual and documentary evidence (I), by the use of the Harrington chart (II), and by the Binford formula (III).
| Deposit | I | II | III |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pit B (T.N. 30) | 1702-1710 | 1700-1720 | 1709 |
| Pit C (T.N. 17, 18) | ca. 1740 | 1735-1750 | 1745 |
| Pit D (T.N. 23) | 1730-1740 | 1730-1740 | 1739 |
| Stratum (T.N. 1) | ca. 1740 | 1720-1740 | 1724 |
The discrepancy in the dating of layer T.N. 1 must be explained by the fact that the soil and its contents were dug from somewhere else and redeposited outside the kitchen building. Had this stratum predated the building, it would undoubtedly have been found on both sides of the foundation and would not have overlaid the red clay level (T.N. 2) which was similar and probably identical to that sealing pits C and D, the latter containing a wine bottle of about 1740 (fig. 19, no. 18).
The following maker's marks were found on pipes:
R M
One initial on either side of the heel. Two examples (see fig. 14, no. 3). The initials are not uncommon on pipes of the same shape found at Williamsburg and Rosewell Plantation.[118] There were at least seven pipemakers with these initials working in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.[119] T.N. 30, Pit B.
H S
One initial on either side of the heel. One example (fig. 14, no. 5). Other pipes with these initials have been found at Williamsburg and Rosewell Plantation. Maker not known. T.N. 1.