Ohio's gemstone (chert)

For the past week/weekend I have been working a lot so there were only two visits to the site, one on the 22nd and one today.
On both visits we kept on digging and sifting, it is a long process but will defiantly pay out in the end. We have mostly found chert. Chert is a "microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock  material composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). It occurs as nodules, concretionary masses and as layered deposits". Chert is more commonly known as flint and was used by the Native Americans for a number of different uses. The most widely known use was to make projectile points, though one could also start a fire, make various other tools, etc. Chert comes in a variety of colors and grades and Ohio has an awesome array of the varieties. One day when I went to the nature center at Highbanks I met a man who works for OSU who said he could put me in contact with someone who has mapped out the different locations of the chert in Ohio.
At the site we have found all different colors, black, white, greys, pinks, reds, blues. Its really exciting to find such a plethora of different kinds.  I know that I have posted about chert before so I won't go on too long about it but today we found some really cool pieces.
One piece was striped and looked like a vein of chert with a different grade and color of chert bounding the striped above and below (see picture).
The second piece that was pretty cool was actually found not in the unit but about 10 feet away towards the South. A tree had recently fallen down and the root bulb was exposed. I walked over to the tree on a short break and saw chert lying on the surface of the ground as well as in the matrix of the root bulb. I bagged what I saw and labeled this as surface collection (see picture).

Among the chert we found two large stones which may be hammer stones. In order to shape chert, which breaks a certain way ( if you follow the link here it will give an overview of the technique of shaping flint), one must use another tool, such as a large stone. A hammer stone is just such a tool. I will take pictures of one of the stones later on when it is washed so that everyone can see what the artifact looks like.

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Daddy Digger

Just a picture of my Dad digging at the site

New updates for the site

I worked a lot last week and then it rained so I could not really get out there much but I did go out today with Mom. Yesterday, however, Mom and Dad went out while I was at work. Since we had so much rain in the last few days it was a good idea to check on the unit and bail out some water. Dad had never been out to the site before and I think he now has a deeper appreciation for what Mom and I do everyday. 
Along with the chert and charcoal Mom and Dad found yesterday, I also cataloged the chert and charcoal from today. We are finding slightly larger pieces of charcoal so that is exciting.
It started to rain today right after we had ate lunch, I had begun to level out some of the ditch that runs through the unit as we dig down. There are a lot of tree roots that need cut. We packed up and headed out a little earlier than I would have liked but it is not a good thing to be rained on when in the field, at least I think so.
When we came home today I looked at both the LiDar image and the map that Baby made of the site. I compared shape for one and where the gates occur in the enclosure. All of the gates are facing East and occur along a shorter 'edge' of the embankment. Mom and I discussed further the probability that this is not a fort or defensive and more ceremonial. So close to the Summer Solstice (tomorrow Tuesday the 21st) it got me thinking about how the gates might line up with sky markers, like sunrise on the Summer Solstice. Comparing this structure with other known earthworks in Ohio and along the Olentangy/Scioto rivers will be important to understanding the function of the site. Stay tuned for more, we plan to go back out Wednesday!

LiDar image!!!!

Linda Pansing of the Ohio Historical Society has sent me this awesome LiDar image of the site!!!!!! (Courtesy of Bill Romain)
LiDar uses light to measure the distance to an object, it can also measure the different properties of an object.
I just wanted to put up this awesome image even though we did not go out to the site today because I had to work. Very exciting stuff!!



Snakes and Frogs and Turkeys..Oh My!

Another day of excavating and it was beautiful. Today was a sunny, 70ish degree day with a slight breeze, Mom and I actually were chilly at one point.

We continued excavating unit one and extended the trench we had started last week. Today we did not find as many artifacts but we did find a nice piece of chert that has a notch, possibly from being worked with a smaller tool. Once this is cleaned it will be easier to tell.  (excuse the dirty fingernails)

 I'm really going to start looking into the chert a lot more and maybe do some geology research on what makes the chert different colors, where all of those different colors come from whether they are in Ohio or elsewhere. SO far I think I have found 5 different colors. I know that Pink chert is typically from Flint Ridge Ohio. I have found black, white, different grays, pinks, a dark red, and a lot in between. Once I have finished the excavation stage of this project I will wash everything and catalog it all to death and begin the geology stage where I can go in and maybe make an idealized map of where the different colors of chert are located, or at least better understand why there are different colors.
We also saw a lot of wildlife today. We scared a deer, saw migrating frogs, A wild turkey called out to us and then ran away, a snake crossed our path and a larger frog made a home in the flooded tarp that was over the top of the pit. Oh  and a very pretty butterfly and hummingbird came for a visit.

Ohio Historical Society visit

Today it rained so we did not go out into the field but we did go to the Ohio Historical Society, to the archives building, to look over Baby's field notes. Linda Pansing was so helpful for putting out all of the materials and also identifying what I thought were ceramic sherds but what were in fact just rocks. Kind of sad that I have yet to find ceramics but I am pushing onward.
We mainly wanted to look at the maps which Baby created of the site and see where he dug his trenches. The only thing is that he didn't mark all of the trenches he dug on the map. He talks about 4 trenches, one of which was 80 feet long! All of his trenches were about 5 feet wide and ranged in length, and he talks about expanding them in his notes so the overall length is up in the air. It would have been awesome if we could have seen where he excavated so we ourselves did not end up digging in the same place but we will have to figure it out another way. We made copies of the map anyway so that we can use it to mark where we excavate. I work this weekend so we will not be going out to the site but hopefully next week we can finish test unit 1 and uncover some great artifacts.
Here are links to 2 of the Ohio Historical Society's blogs if anyone is interested:

http://ohiohistory.wordpress.com//

http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/

Washing Rocks

Today Mom and I did not go to the site, we needed a little break! I did not sit around all day however, I washed my artifacts, well mostly.
I sat on our back porch with a bucket and toothbrush, washing away. While I was washing I looked closer at all of the artifacts that we had discovered and also the rocks which I made Mom and Micah save. I was very happy that I saved all of the rocks and pebbles that we found becasue I think that I may have found some pottery!!! and not just any pottery, we may have found a rim sherd!! Now this may not sound exciting to you but a section of the rim of a pot, so the lip area, is sometimes the most diagnostic part of a ceramic vessel. This is what I set out to do, find rim sherds. I am taking this piece and a few others to the Ohio Historical Society with me tomorrow when I go to look back over Baby's field notes. Perhaps someone at the Society may say for certain that I have pot sherds.
Also I looked at the bullet some more. There is a "H" on the top of the bullet, and an indent, which shows that it has been fired. There are a few different things I have found on the internet about "H" stamped shells. One points to a shell casing that was manufactured in the 1800s. Now this is not the caliber that mine is but may lead to something. I shall keep looking. Maybe I'll take it to the shooting range and see if anyone has any ideas.
Another interesting find was an odd looking stone that has two small holes in it. I am also taking this stone to the Ohio Historical Society because the holes do not look natural. Now Native Americans did have a kind of drill that they used so it is possible for them to have made the holes, I just want to be certain I am not going crazy.
Tomorrow after my 9am meeting at the Society Mom and I will be going back out into the field so wish us luck!!!

Day three of excavations

Day three of excavations and the heat and the dirt keep on coming!
Today Micah came out to help and it made things a lot easier. We started where we left off yesterday by extending the shovel test counterclockwise from the NW corner to the SE. The buckets of dirt were then sifted by yours truly, Micah and Mom.  This was dirty work and I got covered in it.

We found some more chert, what appears to be a projectile point tip, another piece of charcoal and a bullet casing. Dad looked at the bullet and says it is a 17 caliber, which would put it maybe 30-40 years old. There is a mark on the bullet but we have not identified it as of yet. It was kind of disheartening to find the bullet amongst artifacts which seem to be from Native Americans. Though we also found pieces of a beer can that were closer to the surface. It is evident that people have been out to the area and perhaps people have gone shooting? The charcoal that I have found I will hopefully carbon date and perhaps it will help with dates of the artifacts. Maybe someone shot into the ground? I kind of hope so.

Mom and I are taking a day off tomorrow and it is a well needed rest day, I plan on putting together paper work and washing off artifacts a bit.

Look at the trench

Sifting dirt oops sorry, sediment

view from above

Excavation Day two

So day two of excavations and Mom and I were out at the site bright and early. Today was a slightly overcast day with a nice breeze so it was kind of cooler in the field.

We began by troweling again. We uncovered a lot more chert and one piece of charcoal that I hope to carbon date. Mom also uncovered a few pieces that need to be washed off to be identified but they are very light to be stone, perhaps ceramics! Also we found 3 quartz crystals, very cool.

We had a quick lunch around 12:30 and afterwards we decided to do a shovel test in the North West corner of the 2x2 square unit to try and figure out how thick the humus layer is. This layer is a lot thicker than I thought. So we decided that tomorrow we will go back and basically shovel out sediment that is dark humus and sift it all. Micah Risacher has agreed to help tomorrow, for which I am greatly appreciative.

Possible chert scraper

Unit again

Photos from today

First artifact!!!

(chert flake with bulb of percussion)

Unit number 1 and our equipment before we removed any plant debris

Unit 1 context 1

after plant debris removal (the arrow is pointing North)

excavation day one

After a few days working and my birthday it was back to the site to start excavating
Mom and I got a ride out to the site from Debbie, the naturalist, in a truck so we did not have to carry all of our heavy equipment. We hiked the top of the earthworks towards the North in search of one of our site. We had cored last week a spot that is in the interior of the enclosure of the earthworks and thought that it was promising. We staked out a 2x2 meter square around the flagged core spot.
Mom helped a lot by clearing the vegetation and the plant debris out of the unit. Then we used trowels to remove about one inch of topsoil (humus). We found 5 artifacts, all chert flakes with obvious and visible working marks. These included bulbs of percussion, edges that looked worked perhaps a scraper or two.
It was very exciting to see artifacts so early even if they are just a few chert flakes. When we were done for the day we covered up everything, including the unit, with a blue tarp.
It was slightly eerie in the woods today. We kept hearing what sounded like a person chopping down a tree. And it seemed to move closer. No one else is allowed off of the trails, and even if someone were to come off the trail why would they be chopping down a tree? Mom commented that it felt like someone was watching us, and at times it did feel like someone was. Something is going on in those earthworks that is interesting. Out again tomorrow!!