Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Reports of Site Looting
Over the past week some of our members went to the site to see how its holding up. Unfortunately, there were several signs that someone was pot hunting at the Joseph site. This type of activity has been going on at Rocky Nook for decades. It is a tremendous shame that we've been losing pieces of our history to selfish individuals looking for a knick-knack for their mantel or something to make a quick buck on eBay. Looting is crime, and not just because it vandalizes the property. It also robs us of the complete picture of the Howland sites and a better understanding of our nation's past.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
First Round of Conservation Completed
Hi All,
After quite a lull in Rocky Nook news, I've got some fun pictures to hold you over till August. We just got some preliminary photos back of the first items sent to the conservator. Everything looks really amazing now, and should stay that way for quite some time. These items and more will probably be available to see in person at the dig this year. Check them out!
After quite a lull in Rocky Nook news, I've got some fun pictures to hold you over till August. We just got some preliminary photos back of the first items sent to the conservator. Everything looks really amazing now, and should stay that way for quite some time. These items and more will probably be available to see in person at the dig this year. Check them out!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Day 6- The Last Day!
Today was the final day of the 2008 Excavations at Rocky Nook. Most of it was taken up with backfilling all the units we opened up this year. That was hard and dirty work! It can be a little frustrating to fill everything back in after just one week, but everyone was happy to know that we answered several questions this year that have been on our list for some time. In the afternoon we were all rewarded with a relaxing sail on the shallop Elizabeth Tilley. It was a beautiful time. A big thank you to Tracy and her crew for taking us out!
Although we did not find the cellars that Deetz excavated in '68, we should be able to locate them next year. We now have a definite location of one of his grids that passed through a trash midden. Also, we may have discovered where his original datum might have been. We also found several interesting artifacts. Besides the spur and knife fragment, we uncovered a thimble, two beads, a straight pin, and a book clasp. Some of you may remember the nearly complete redware jug that Pamela and Alex found last year. Michael may have discovered more of it in the unit he was working on. There were also the usual ceramic sherds, pipe stems and bowls, window glass, and nails. All in all, it was a very satisfying year. I hope all of you enjoyed keeping up with our progress.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Rocky Nook project, especially through the next couple of weeks.
Although we did not find the cellars that Deetz excavated in '68, we should be able to locate them next year. We now have a definite location of one of his grids that passed through a trash midden. Also, we may have discovered where his original datum might have been. We also found several interesting artifacts. Besides the spur and knife fragment, we uncovered a thimble, two beads, a straight pin, and a book clasp. Some of you may remember the nearly complete redware jug that Pamela and Alex found last year. Michael may have discovered more of it in the unit he was working on. There were also the usual ceramic sherds, pipe stems and bowls, window glass, and nails. All in all, it was a very satisfying year. I hope all of you enjoyed keeping up with our progress.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Rocky Nook project, especially through the next couple of weeks.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Day 5
The dirt pile is getting bigger...
Father and son, Ted and Alex, continue to excavate
Richard's knife fragment (the hilt is on the right)
The feature as it is now
A couple of our questions were answered today. We finished excavating one of Deetz's test units. At the bottom was the rest of the Coca-cola bottle that we found yesterday, further convincing us that we had found one of the grids he opened in '68. The area that we opened yesterday, where the crew cleared all that brush, did not contain evidence of the cellars. So, we know where they are not located. However, nothing else was uncovered in those units either, indicating that we may have found where he had his datum (they would not have placed it where they would be excavating). Richard's unit definitely yielded the most artifacts this year. He had to use two hands to carry his bag by the end of the day. One of the items he recovered was a knife fragment that still had the hilt attached. Tomorrow we will do a little more digging, photographing, and mapping before we close up the excavation for the year.
Father and son, Ted and Alex, continue to excavate
Richard's knife fragment (the hilt is on the right)
The feature as it is now
A couple of our questions were answered today. We finished excavating one of Deetz's test units. At the bottom was the rest of the Coca-cola bottle that we found yesterday, further convincing us that we had found one of the grids he opened in '68. The area that we opened yesterday, where the crew cleared all that brush, did not contain evidence of the cellars. So, we know where they are not located. However, nothing else was uncovered in those units either, indicating that we may have found where he had his datum (they would not have placed it where they would be excavating). Richard's unit definitely yielded the most artifacts this year. He had to use two hands to carry his bag by the end of the day. One of the items he recovered was a knife fragment that still had the hilt attached. Tomorrow we will do a little more digging, photographing, and mapping before we close up the excavation for the year.Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Day 4
Richard is ready to go!
Ray and Jonathan discussing the new possible location of the cellars
The some of the artifacts ready to come up in Chris' unit
The Coca-Cola bottle fragment that answered one of our questions
First of all, apologies for the delay on yesterday's report. The internet connection was down until this afternoon due to the storm that passed through yesterday afternoon. Please scroll down to find out what happened.
Ray and Jonathan discussing the new possible location of the cellars
The some of the artifacts ready to come up in Chris' unit
The Coca-Cola bottle fragment that answered one of our questions
First of all, apologies for the delay on yesterday's report. The internet connection was down until this afternoon due to the storm that passed through yesterday afternoon. Please scroll down to find out what happened.
We had a very productive day at Rocky Nook. Derek, Dave, Beth, and Jesse took another look at Deetz's map and decided that there might be a possibility that one of his datum points had been based off of the Joseph monument. So with machetes, clippers, and a chainsaw the group tackled more brush so new units could be opened up. Hopefully, within the next day or so we may find one of the cellars within those units. Ray who dug with Deetz as a child in 1968 came out to help today and it was great to have him on board. Meanwhile, two more units were put in near the area where the group worked four years ago with the hope they would yield more artifacts. Also, a quadrant was plotted out in the large block in order discover for certain whether or not we are looking at Deetz's old test units. After going down about a foot through the lighter, nearly artifact free soil the sterile sub-soil was reached. Sitting neatly on top of the sub-soil was a 1960's era Coca-Cola bottle fragment. This little bottle glass fragment definitivly answered the question of whether or not these were Deetz'z units. He thankfully left an "I was here" message for us in the bottom. We have been looking for an indication of Deetz's excavations for five years and we finally have one! So, tomorrow we will continue to explore the new units and most likely investigate some sections of the midden that were not excavated by Deetz in '68.
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