2011 Day 3: Excavation Begins

We were able to begin excavating today, despite a few sprinkles here and there.  We had a large crew of 20 volunteers who opened 7 5x5ft excavation units.  This year, as in previous seasons, we are in search of the foundations of the the Joseph Howland homestead.  Most of the excavation units are located in an area where we believe one of the foundations may be.  We are also searching for evidence of the previous excavations of 1959 and 1969.  Therefore we are not only looking for definite foundations but also for areas of sterile, previously excavated soil.

Clockwise from top:  Mike, Sarah, Michael, and Ellen excavated the northeastern units.

In the foreground, Carolyn, Alex, and Pam excavate one of the southwestern units.

Dave, one of the professional archaeologists, explains the plan of attack in Eldon's unit.

It is still too early in the week to determine if we are in the right spot, but the crew made excellent progress.  Of course an important part of excavating is the screening process.  Soil from the units is put into a bucket and taken to one of the screens where it is sifted in order to find smaller artifacts like nails, cermanic sherds, and glass fragments.

Betty and Alex screen soil from the unit Alex is working in.

 

Dick and Jan screen through soil from Jan's unit


We excavate units in layers or levels.  We determine that we have reached a new level when there is a noticable color or consistency change in the soil.  The only way to notice these levels is if we dig slowly with trowels and keep the unit as even as possible.  Once a new layer is reached, the unit is cleaned of any loose soil and large roots and looks like this:

Then, measurements of the depth and composition of the soil are recorded.  If necessary, a plan or map will be drawn of the unit.  It is imperative that we take all these detailed notes so we will have a complete understanding of the site.  Also, these notes are invaluable for research because once something has been excavated, it can never be excavated again.  There are no re-do's in archaeology.

Sometimes, there will be what we call a "feature" in the unit.  A feature can be a number of things such as a ring of stones, a foundation, a trash pit, a hearth, or even a circular section of soil that is darker in color than the soil in the rest of the unit.  When that type of feature is discovered, it will often be excavated seperately from the rest of the unit in order to determine what it is.  These circles of different colored soil usually indicate a hole or depression.  These holes could be evidence of a post hole, a looter's pit, or even an animal burrow. Any of these things could be present on the Joseph Howland site.

Melody investigates a feature in her unit that was close to the surface.  This may have been a looter's pit.
Looting has been an issue on the Howland property over the years.

Tomorrow we will continue to take the 7 units down to the next levels.  However, one unit gave us a glimpse of what to expect.  In this case, a large tree stump needed to be removed and the hole which it left was excavated. It seems that two large rocks may be in the next level.  Only more time will tell what that may indicate.

To be continued...

August 18: Dig Day 2

Today's Damage


So once again, the day dawned with the discovery of vandalism at the Joseph site! Today's damage was more severe than yesterday. They kicked holes in our screens, stole our rakes, yanked a rock out of one of the test units, pulled up all our string, and stomped around on Ray and Marcia's midden (thankfully, nothing significant was broken). The police came out again and took another report. They promised to do what they can to track the thieves. Hopefully, that will work out, but we're coming to the conclusion that this is going to be a daily frustration. Errr!




Alex, Pamela, Marcia, and Ray excavating their units.


Dave and Sarah Cleaning Their Unit

After we repaired the screens and restrung all the units we were finally able to get to work. It was another hot one today, so everyone was chugging the water and taking lots of shade breaks. Two more squares were opened today and we had a few more workers to get cracking on them. Ray and Marcia moved to this new location and it wasn't long before they were turning up more artifacts, notably a large quantity of nails. The cellars did not turn up today either, but Sarah and Dave found more midden that was chock full of artifacts including redware bowl sherds, copper banding, an iron strip, pipe stems and bowls, and animal bone. They also found a buckle.

The buckle in situ with redware sherds and brick.

Although we have not been successful in finding the cellars yet, we hope that the work tomorrow will shed more light on where we are located in relation to the work done in the 60's. That, of course, is our ultimate goal. We have three days left, so we all are feeling positive that this can be accomplished. In the meantime, we will be keeping our eyes open for those dastardly vandals.

Day 3

Our progress so far
Dick, Alex, and Betty at the screen
Beth, Pamela, and Karen working in their units
Chris and the spur he found

Today we continued in the units we opened up yesterday. In the morning Chris, a new volunteer this year, uncovered a spur (Image 4). So far, it has been one of the most interesting finds of the year. Mother nature was working on our clock today and decided to send the rain storm during lunch. Some of us, however, had to eat in the downpour. The sun return just in time to start again and we were able to continue. By the end of the day is was becoming clear that the large area we opened up may be one of the areas that Deetz worked during the 1968 excavation. The artifact rich soil was broken up by 4 1/2 foot squares evenly spaced. So tomorrow we will do our best to clear up what this feature is.