18th-Century College Dining Hall Excavated in North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA—According to a report in The Daily Tar Heel, archaeologists Heather Lapham and Mary Elizabeth Fitts and their students are excavating the site of Steward’s Hall, the first dining facility on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Built in 1794, Lapham said that the dining hall was unpopular with students, and known for serving “invariable service of mutton and of bacon too fat to be eaten.” The building eventually became a private boardinghouse in 1816, before it was dismantled in 1847. The excavation has uncovered pottery, window glass, and animal bones, including a pig tusk, Lapham added. For more on archaeology in North Carolina, go to "Cotton Mill, Prison, Main Street."