Under the Floor

A floorplan of Casa de la Guerra at the time of restoration

Mike Imwalle and the Casa Cat (aka the de la Guerra Kitty) found in room 9

Playing cards, die, and a poker chip discovered under the floor of the east wing porch extension

A .44 Henry bullet

A bone toothbrush without bristles, imported from France

Gunflints and musket balls found in room 1

As part of the excavation process, Imwalle diagramed and numbered the rooms in the u-shaped Casa that existed at the time the archaeological study began. This would allow his team to keep track of where the various objects, materials, and structures they excavated had been found.

The floor of the Casa produced by far the most objects. The earliest floors in the Casa were planks laid on sleepers (i.e. pieces of wood or tile that kept the floor level) that rested on dirt fill. The dirt fill raised the floor of the Casa about a foot and a half above the courtyard.

In most of the Casa, that dirt fill was removed after flooding in the 1860s. But in rooms 1 and 2 that fill was never removed and it was only partially removed from room 9. That meant it still contained objects and materials deposited during the original construction. After removing the concrete floor that had been laid over the dirt fill, Imwalle’s crew raked through the dirt in these rooms unearthing such objects as gun flints and musket balls.

Archaeologists discovered objects iunder the floor in other rooms as well. The beautiful bronze medallion above was found under the room 5 (also called the bodega). And the mummified Casa Cat was found in room 9.