Field School - Week 2

Even though Monday was a holiday, making for a short week, it still proved to be a busy week.

Tuesday started with a classroom lecture so we didn't actually get out in the field until late morning. Still, we managed to finish up the last of the STPs in short order.

Following that we commenced a surface collection of the eastern portion of the site. At one time, not too long ago, the St. Joe River was damned and water levels were much higher here than they are at present. It is believed that there were historic structures here during that period, but the nature of those structures remains unknown. Regardless, there is much evidence of modern activity; glass objects, bricks, wire and metallic artifacts. All these things needed to be collected as part of the project.

Afterwards we started laying out our excavation plots. We will be focusing on these areas for the duration. We have one excavation area in the eastern side of the site (just within the embankment), another on the northern side where we hope to establish the northern boundary of the embankment, and a third on the western edge that will cut across both the embankment and the ditch. This last area is the largest and is the excavation on which I am working.

By the end of Tuesday we had marked out the boundaries of our excavation trench. This will cover an area 2m x 12m, broken into smaller 2m x 2m blocks. Each block will be excavated individually. The image below shows the portion of the embankment which we will be cutting across.

I spent the day Wednesday working in the lab cleaning the artifacts collected from the STPs so did not get to participate in the first stages of the dig. Which is fine. Most of the work of archaeologists is actually conducted in the lab rather than on the site. So time spent there is crucial to the learning process.

The cleaning of artifacts is done simply by scrubbing them lightly with water and a toothbrush. Here is Nick in action...

I'll talk more next week about the artifacts themselves and what happens with them after cleaning.

Meanwhile, the excavating had begun. I returned to the site and worked on that Thursday and Friday. Working in 10cm increments, we gradually increased our excavation depth. By late in the day Friday we were finally below the first layer of soil. Here is what the block I am working on looks like at this point. Those are tree roots that you are seeing inside the block.

This is the western-most block of the trench, lying on the interior of the embankment. Others were digging at the top of the embankment in another block.

Here is an image taken from the ditch showing how these 2 blocks are situated in relation to each other. There is an untouched block between the two which will be excavated at a later time.

A couple of things to point out in this last photo...

First, the person you see at the left is Dr. McCullough, our instructor and director of the IPFW Archaeological Survey. The wooden apparatus he is standing in front of (with another to his right) is our soil screen; a larger version of what we were using during the STP phase.

Also, the square red gizmo in the center foreground is a laser level. We can take measurements from this, anywhere within the trench, to determine our current depth. It gives us a stable reference point, called a datum, which is necessary for accuracy and consistency throughout the excavation.

And that is where things stand for now. I'll be back in the lab again on Monday but out at the site for the remainder of next week.

Field School - Week 1

Picking up where I left off …

As I mentioned previously, the Kramer enclosure is a circular earthen embankment surrounded by a ditch. The area inside the embankment is termed the ‘central plaza‘.

What I didn’t mention before is that, in the many centuries that have passed since the site has been in use, it has become a wooded area covered in trees and brush.

Here is a view from our parking area. The site is in the trees, to the south, directly behind our tool trailer.



The area in which we are parking was once under cultivation. At that time the field extended into the enclosure itself. Many years of plowing have eradicated visible signs of the embankment on the northern side. Part of our project will be to excavate trenches in this area to get below the plow zone and determine where, exactly, the embankment had been positioned.

As to the site itself, this is how the central plaza looks today…


The embankment can still be seen on the eastern and western perimeter even though time has altered the terrain to some degree.

On Wednesday we started in on the first phase of the project. This being, to lay out a grid covering the site, both inside and outside the embankment. We did this by measuring out and placing flags every 10 meters along both the north-south and east-west axis. Effectively, then, each flag marks the corner of a 10m x 10m plot.

Given the environment, this was not often an easy task to accomplish. Too, the underbrush and vegetation easily obscured the flags once they were planted, as the photo below demonstrates (the circles mark where 2 of our flags can be found).

Laying out the grid took until late Thursday afternoon. While I was working on this, other crew members were starting in on the next step; shovel test probes (STPs)

The STP is a small hole dug with a shovel (duh). Each hole is dug down until an obvious difference in soil coloration is encountered. Soil characteristics and the depths where changes occur are recorded. The volume of soil taken from the hole is measured. Then, that soil is run through a 1/4" screen. This allows us to recover any artifacts that might be present. Here is Jamie doing just that...

This practice lets us get a representative sampling of artifacts for the entire site. All artifacts are bagged and labeled as to where they were discovered. By taking the soil volume and and quantity of artifacts found at every STP, we can map out artifact densities across the site. Areas of higher concentration may warrant further excavation

As of the end of the day Friday, we were still working on the STPs. Most have been done. Hopefully the rest will be completed by noon on Tuesday (Its a 3-day holiday weekend so we won't be out there on Monday).

The next step will be to start excavating trenches across the embankment at select locations.

Beware "free" stuff

Businesses today are offering all kinds of gimmicks to attract customers. Always watch out for any such programs that claim to be "free." Chances are that they are not.

I went to Chase Bank today to make a simple deposit and was presented with one of these deals afterwards. The teller suggested I upgrade my debit card to take part in their "rewards program." Through that, I would earn points redeemable for various things. You've all seen these programs before. Here is the particular program she was trying to sell me on. I didn't buy into it.

She even went so far as to call in one of her co-workers to help make the sale; both chanting the mantra "its free.. its free..." Like the double-team, hard-sell, was really going to change my mind. Seriously? All that did was aggravate me.

I looked up the bank website after returning home to investigate the situation. It turns out that the "free" part refers only to joining the program. After that there is a $25 annual fee. Gee, guess they just forgot to mention that during the sales pitch.

Just goes to show that you should always check out the fine print before signing up for anything.

If Chase Bank really wants to give its customers something, hows about giving us lower service charges or interest on our currently non-interest-yielding accounts.

I'm just saying...

Networking Pays Off

I received word today that I'm going to be able to participate at another dig site for 2 weeks in September. WOOHOO!

This will be at the Yankeetown site, just east of Evansville, Indiana. I'll be working as a volunteer but they will cover lodging expenses and per diem. This will be a great opportunity to gain much needed experience while I progress toward the transition into professional archaeology on a permanent basis.

Still hoping on getting involved with several other local projects as well but it may be a while yet before I receive confirmation on any of those.

Field School Introduction

Well, Field School started yesterday. Not too much to report on regarding that as of yet. Monday morning was spent in the classroom doing paperwork and covering the basics of what we can expect once we get into the field. Afterwards we had a cookout; something of a "getting acquainted" gathering hosted by the staff. A fine way to begin if you ask me.

Today began with more classroom time. We were introduced to the many recordkeeping forms which we will be using. Following that were lectures presenting us with some historical and cultural background information that relates to our dig site.

After lunch we started practicing with some of the equipment outside on the campus lawn; taking measurements and laying out grids. I didn't take my camera (thinking we were to be in the classroom all day) so missed a good opportunity for photos. However, I will have it with me every day from now on.

We concluded the day by washing artifacts in the Archaeology Lab. That may not sound especially exciting but it is a necessary part of the process. Things need to be cleaned up before they can be processed and analyzed. And, too, that exercise started getting us familiar with the types of materials we will probably find, and their characteristics, so that we can better discern them from naturally occuring materials.

What we will be excavating is a Late Woodland Period site named the Kramer Enclosure. This site, located next to the St. Joe River, has been roughly dated to around 1000-1400AD based upon artifacts found to date. Our research goal is to determine to what degree, and in what manner, this site relates to other sites and cultures found in Central Indiana. I'll talk more about this aspect of the project at a later date.

The site itself consists of a circular earthen embankment, some 300 meters in diameter, surrounded by a ditch. This is the typical layout for this region and time period. However, why this particular layout was employed is still under discussion. Some say it represents defensive fortifications; others that it is a ceremonial/civic center at which dispersed peoples would come together for religious activities or trade. Hopefully this excavation will help further the debate.

Previous surveys of the site suggest that we may find a considerable amount of material remains. Expectations appear somewhat high that we may even find evidence of domestic structures. If so, this would be the first such find in this area for that time period.

I do not exist!

Does this mean I don't have to pay taxes anymore?!?!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Medieval Times

For those who haven’t been to any of the Medieval Times castles - GO!!!

The show is phenomenal. It’s takes dinner theater to a whole new level. And the food is excellent (if you don’t mind eating with your fingers - no utensils provided).

The setting is (obviously) the medieval era; a time of Kings and Knights. During the show you get to witness various competitions between the knights, intertwined within an over-reaching story arc. The arena is divided into 6 sections, each of which is the cheering section for one of the Knights in the court. The King and the Princess preside over the festivities from a throne at one end of the arena. There is feasting, jousting, and hand-to-hand combat. It really must be experienced to be appreciated. All I can do is provide just a taste of what the show is like.

Here we have the King leading the Knights into the arena.



We cheer on our champion, the Red & Yellow Knight, as he awaits the next competition.



Nicole receives a rose from our Knight.



Following the joust, the Knights engage in hand-to-hand combat.




Of course, all these activities are choreographed but they do seek to provide a sense of realism. The weapons being used are functional, albeit dulled for safety. These guys really do take a beating but they obviously enjoy what they are doing.

Home from Chicago

Chicago was a blast (but , of course, I knew it was going to be). We arrived mid-afternoon on Monday and stayed until early evening on Friday. We were pretty much on the go the whole time there. Our days were spent visiting museums and similar sites. During the evenings we took in the local nightlife. Wednesday night we drove to Schaumburg for Medieval Times. We capped of the trip on Friday with stops at the University of Chicago and Chinatown. A busy week, but well worth it. Lots of photos were taken but I’ll only put up a few here for now. I’ll come back and post more about the trip later, between other things, as time permits. For now I’ll just throw out a couple things from the Field Museum.

The photos below show a portion of the Regenstein Laboratory. This is a facility for the preservation and restoration of artifacts. From this vantage point visitors can get a “behind-the-scenes” look at what conservators do to build and maintain their collections. For those who have asked what I want to do when I grow up, this is the type of facility I hope to work in.

The Field Museum has materials from a wide array of cultures and periods. Here are a couple of samples from just one culture.

These ceramic artifacts come from the Moche culture of coastal northern Peru which emerged ~200AD and collapsed ~600AD. Theirs was a highly stratified society which maintained a complex economy heavily reliant on maize agriculture and marine resources. Moche ceramics are well known for their lifelike representations. Scenes portraying animals, plants, and daily activities are commonly found. Many animals played important roles in their religious beliefs. The vessel below takes the form of one such creature; a supernatural bat.

Moche portrait vessels are another common find. These vessels depicted unique individuals as can be seen through distinctive facial features, expressions and even physical deformities. Commoners and elites, alike, were represented. In some cases the same individuals have been found to have been portrayed in several stages of their life. The image below shows an example of how of a high-status individual is portrayed.

Starting Over - Starting Fresh

I’ve left this site collecting cyber-dust for far too long. So, I’m dusting it off, deleting the old entries, and preparing for new stuff. Things coming up include a trip to Chicago during the upcoming week and Archaeology Field School which starts the week after that and lasts through June. Which means that I’ll be starting back to work on the 4th of July weekend, so I’m sure there will be much to complain about following that. Beyond that, well, we’ll just have to see what develops.