Archaeologist details Lincoln-related Bloomington dig

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - An archaeologist has offered details of what excavators found last summer when they were working near the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington.

Archaeologists in July unearthed part of the footprint of the 1836 courthouse where experts said Abraham Lincoln worked as an attorney. On Saturday Floyd Mansberger of Fever River Research of Springfield said archaeologists from the firm found clues to the footprint of a jail and the old courthouse. The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports (http://bit.ly/1M0MXn1 ) they also found fragments of artifacts, like whiskey bottles, ink bottles and pipes.

Mansberger says crews found the jail's cellar and discovered it was a 20-by-40 feet structure with a kitchen.

The archaeological work was done in advance of construction on a tourism center at the site.

___

Information from: The Pantagraph, http://www.pantagraph.com