Yankeetown

Reporting live from Evansville ...

I'm almost through my 2 weeks at this site already. Wow! They've gone by way too quickly.

So, what is the Yankeetown site all about?

The site rests along the Ohio river near Evansville, Indiana. The folks that once lived here, circa 700AD, were part of what we term an 'emergent Mississippian' culture. They were the first people in Indiana to practice maize agriculture. After living at this location for some time, they later moved downstream and took up residence at the Angel Mounds site. Beyond that we really know very little about them.

We recognize this culture through its distinctive style of pottery. Much can be found eroding from the banks along the river. The site has been known to exist for some time, however the present dig is the first 'professional' excavation to take place here.

I'm not gonna talk much about the specifics of what we have found so far. That is reserved for the folks conducting the dig (I'm just a grunt volunteer - lol). Still, I can show some general pics of where we are and what we are doing.

This is the road leading to the site. The site itself rests in the middle of a soybean field.

We opened up several units within the field. Here's a view from the unit I started in. You can see where another unit is being worked at (albeit fuzzy) in the upper right corner.

And here's a shot from the units that I went to work on over the weekend. I kinda bounced back and forth between the 3 units, keeping them all excavated down to the same depth. The ladies are screening through the dirt to find the goodies that I've shoveled out. In the background is another unit where work is in progress.

And thats really all I'm gonna say about the dig at this time. I'll come back in a day or 2 with an adventure to tell about and some more photos of the dig.

But before I go, I gotta introduce you to "Black Dog."

According to some of the locals, Black Dog had been living wild along the river for the past couple of months. She was quite timid when we first arrived. However, by mid-way through the second week she was taking food from our hands and would let us pet her. And she would be waiting eagerly for us to arrive for work in the mornings. All of us quickly grew attached to her. Especially Rex, our project director.

As of last Thursday, she has been officially adopted and given a new home. Black Dog is now living in Indy with Rex's family. And yes, her name will continue to be Black Dog. :)