Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Archaeologists believe remnants of Fort Duquesne unearthed
About two weeks ago, archaeologist Tom Kutys thought he'd found a stone wall when he came across mortared capstones in a trench at the state park that once was the site of French and British forts.

Instead, archaeologists at Point State Park believe they very well might have uncovered long-buried remnants of Fort Duquesne, Pittsburgh's original fort.

"If we are correct about this, we are looking at the earliest example of European masonry in Pittsburgh," said Brooke Blades, an archaeologist with A.D. Marble and Co., which is working on the $35 million renovation of the park in downtown Pittsburgh.

After excavating around Kutys' discovery, workers found what they believe to be a drainage system that once served the fort in the mid-1700s, he said.