New Orleans -- An empty lot in the 900 block of Conti St. is full of history.
UNO archaeologist Andrea White says she's reading the ground there like a diary.
"We're doing an archaeological and scientific investigation at the property to understand the people who lived here before us," she said.
White is digging for her idea of Gold at 933 Conti. A new Irish Channel Cultural Museum will soon be built on the site. The property owner wanted to investigate the history of the lot before construction begins.
"It's not often archaeologists get the opportunity to dig into the French Quarter, especially not in this part, out of the footprint of the early French Quarter," said Terri Landry of the Irish Cultural Museum.
White says the house that was on the property in the 1800's was a Creole cottage, owned by John McDonogh. It was believed to be rented to others.
"We actually have a brick pier in this corner right here, so those are some of the features of this house," said White as she pointed to a brick pillar underground.
She says the property had more than 16 owners since 1777, but the people who lived on the property are harder to trace.
"Mr. Silvestre Blasini was an oysterman who probably lived in the house when John McDonogh owned it. We found thick layers of shells. He was probably using them in his backyard to build it up," she said.
The lot is part of the last couple of blocks of the quarter developed after the Great Fire of 1794, when housing was scarce.
"We had a gentleman named Jean Robert who lived here. He was a Creole refugee from Saint-Domingue."
White compares archaeology to a layer cake: The deeper you go, the father back in time you go.
"This is actually a button made out of bone. You can see it was carved," White said, showing a find.
In pits dug three feet deep and six feet wide, student volunteers find small artifacts. To them, it's pay dirt.
White pointed to a broken piece of yellowware, pottery that was popular in the 1830's and 1840's.
"This is a gun flint. This is the third gun flint we've found out here. This is exciting!" White said.
White says she can learn a lot by going through the old trash people left on the site centuries ago. She can tell what people were eating and what their ethnicity was.
But there are only days left to look into the past before construction begins here. Time for digging for clues is running out.
"We'll spend a lot more months in the lab, teasing out the information that we've found," White said.
The Irish Cultural Museum will open in the spring of this year.
