Unit 2 updates

 As you all know we have moved to a new unit, and so have the mice. When Mom and I went out the the new unit and removed the tarp we found about four nests and the two mice running around. When we started to move some of the equipment the mice jumped into a crate that holds our trowels and such. They were actually kind of cute and probably at this moment enjoying the shelter of the tarp.

Unit number 2 is proving to be very promising. So far we have collected a lot of materials just on the surface. Mom and I went out to the site and staked out the 2x2 meter square and removed the plant material from the surface. Just by doing that there were chert flakes visible. This new location is at a higher elevation than the first unit and a bit closer to the earthworks. I'm very excited to see what kinds of materials this unit holds and who knows? Perhaps we will get lucky and find some really great pottery.

Moving Day

On probably the hottest excavation day yet, Mom and I went out to the site. Tuesday was designated as the last day at the first unit. We had to bail out the unit a bunch because of the heavy rains of the day before. We found a frog and two mice in the unit. The mice had started to make a nest.

We measured the distance between the unit and the earthworks, and then paced from the unit to the cliff. These measurements, along with the GPS coordinates will help to map the unit later.

I made sure that the clay layer was even and that no other artifacts were present at the surface. We probed into the clay to see how deep the layer went and could not find the bottom of the layer after about a foot. We decided that the clay was the sterile layer, meaning that no artifacts would be found and we could close the unit. We took photos of the unit walls and made notes about it before closing.

It is hard to tell very well from the picture but the top soil grades into a clay that has random gray clay nodules through out. The gray clay nodules stopped at the top of the pure yellow clay layer. This wall is the North wall which was probably the cleanest wall because there were the least amount of roots.

We took a little break after all of our measuring and walked over to a spot east of the first unit where we had flagged before. This spot is higher up than the first unit and showed probes containing both yellow and red clay, which is why they were flagged. I decided to probe again to see if this would be a good place to have the next unit and hit a large rock right on the surface. It turned out to be a huge piece of chert, most likely Flint Ridge due to the coloring.

I looked around the flagged area and found a lot more pieces of chert lying on the surface so I decided this spot would be an excellent place for the second unit. We ended up moving all of our equipment to this second site and started to refill in the first unit.

As the time gets closer to the start of Fall semester I need to work faster to get in the next two units. Now that Mom and I have a system down it should go smoothly, we hope. 6 weeks left before I go back, keep visiting for updates!!

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