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!!