The Dismal dig of 2011 has come to a close.  I had said that I would muse about the field season's findings last entry.  I had not forgotten.  

The weeks since the close of the field school has been occupied by a very exciting dig with the National Park Service.  I'm working at Monocacy National Battlefield, where last year we located the lost village of enslaved individuals.  This year's excavations have been focused on the exploration of one structure (we found six in total last year) in order to discover its dimensions as well as learn more about the enslaved individuals who once occupied those dwellings.

The dig has been going well, but has been keeping me quite busy.  Since I commute, my day normally begins around 4am.  I tend to end the day by 8pm, in an attempt to get as much sleep as possible, of course there are those nights that I'm convinced to belly up at a local pub.

Back to the Dismal.  Good news everyone, Archaeology magazine has published their article about our project.  You may read it here.  

While my image does not appear within the article, my hand and my trowel do.  That's right, that hand holding a bunch of small lithic fragments is my dirty swamp hand.

The article goes on to reveal the posthole feature that led to my expanded excavation of the summer.  The posthole mentioned was found to be lined with prehistoric ceramic sherds but believed to have belonged to the historic period, based on his positioning with the soil strata and the artifact assemblage of the surrounding area, which while sparse, reflected the model of an interior resistance community as posited by Dr. Sayers.  An OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) sample was secured and sent away for dating.  The dates have not returned as of yet, but time will tell.

Welcome back!  Our swamp archaeologists have been quite busy these past few weeks.  With what you might ask?  Well, last we visited our explorers of the muck, they had just set up camp at the North Plateau with a 2 x 3 m excavation unit.  We have not expanded that unit with other exploratory units, building up to a 4 x 4 m unit with several 1 x 1 m units to the side and one 1 x 2 m off to the east. 

You might be saying to yourself, gee, that sure is a lot of space to excavate.  It sure is, and there is a reason to the madness I assure you.  The large block excavation is a great attempt to follow the trench feature found within EU 4 by the 2010 field school.  Our hope, is that by following the feature, we might be able to decipher just what kind of structure it is, be it palisade or cabin.

As the days have passed, Dr. Sayers, Dr. Greene and myself have scratched out heads trying to figure out the enigma laid out before us.  We are certain that one trench represents one wall.  So, we could be looking at the outside wall of a structure, or perhaps we are on the inside.  We have been finding a scattering of lithic flakes, a piece of glass so small, someone thought it looked like an insect wing, quartz flakes and small bit of metal.  We have pressed on with our excavations and have been joined by a great number (at different times and weeks) of amazing volunteers.  Archaeology would not be possible if it were not for volunteers and I will be forever grateful for their help.

The site has been a very popular place all of a sudden.  We have had quite the visitation by a slew of media crews.  Reporters representing various media groups, including a documentary filmmaker, faced the mud and joined us on our site.  I won’t mention all of the groups just yet, instead I will wait to hear about their publications, but let me just say that I’m quite jazzed about the attention.  This site deserves to have its story told to the world, and that is exactly what we, as archaeologists, are attempting to do. 

Dr. Greene has left the excavation for the season.  Before he went on his way, we came up with a plan of attack, as to what to do on the North Plateau.  Dr. Sayers and I have been talking about the progressions of the excavations.  We’ve had quite the number of volunteers help us out on the Plateau, and we now have two students working on the block excavation.  All of our volunteers have returned to their lives outside of the swamp, and the Plateau is left with three (me and the students) with the occasional visit from Dr. Sayers.

While a few of our volunteers were still on the Plateau, an exciting find was made.  Our two volunteers were screening and found quite a bit of white fragments.  What could these fragments be?  I had a thought as to what they could be (one of two things I suppose) and Dr. Sayers confirmed, we found fragments of a clay tobacco pipe!  Parts of the bowl and even a piece of the stem (broken in length) turned up in our excavation.  In fact, more fragments are being found by the day, including today.

The more dirt we remove from the unit, the more perplexed Dr. Sayers and I are.  Until today that is.  We, the Plateau crew, removed another layer from some choice spots on the excavation block, and while we still have some questions, we believe we now see the grid pattern of several trenches indicating a cabin structure.

More will be done this week to expose that grid pattern so that we may be able to document the footprint as best we can.  We may excavate one of the trench features, in order to gain another glimpse inside.  This is the last week of intense excavations, so time is running short. 

In other news, today was filled with wildlife and documentary filmmakers.  The day began with deer, lizards and this guy:

I was walking to the North Plateau with one of the students when I heard something rustle in the leaves to my right.  I looked over expecting to see a lizard scamper by, but instead see the largest rattlesnake I, personally, have ever seen.  After a few moments of amazement at the beauty and seer size of this creature, I walked the student back to the Crest, where we informed everyone else as to the snakes presence and whereabouts.  The snake was sunning itself and was uninterested in us.  The students and I eventually traveled back to the North Plateau, but foraging a new path, around our large friend.  The rattler stayed in the same place for the majority of the day, and left somewhere around 2.  On our venture out of the swamp, we ran into a small box turtle, just hanging out on the path, who began moving faster than most rabbits as we passed him by.  I was greeted by a lizard once we were completely out of the swamp, as if to say “good job, the day is done.”

Above I mentioned some media was present at our site.  Well, it has just come to my attention that the GDSLS Archaeology Field School had a spot on UNC TV. Check it out here.

One last note, I donated my sunglasses to the swamp today.  I left them on the hood on the van, thinking I would remember them on our way home.  I did not and they are now a part of history for some future archaeologist to find.  Hope they like scratched up Ray Bans.

Well, that was quite the update.  Thanks for joining us again, and I hope to leave you one final log of the season in about a week or so.  Join us next time, when we’ll discuss our final findings and what they might mean, in other words I might actually talk about anthropology, oh my.

Welcome back and thanks for tuning in to the weekly adventures within the Great Dismal Swamp.

This week, Dr. Greene and myself began our North Plateau adventure by setting up a new grid system.  Dr. Sayers joined us in our discussion and advocated for the new grid.  Dr. Sayers and I carried the total station across the water and to our site.  I set up the total station while Dr. Greene began clearing a line of sight between the Crest and North Plateau.  Once complete, we shot in the new grid.  The previous excavations on the North Plateau followed the natural landscape and were not on the same grid as the Crest, thus the units are a bit askew within our new grid system.

After we successfully mapped the new grid, we began to clean out the back fill from EU 4 (excavated in 2010).  We reached the bottom of the original excavation and were overjoyed to witness that the features were still intact.  Two pot sherds (broken pot fragments) were still present within the floor, just as we had left them last year.  The features I just mentioned are a trench feature complex containing a posthole, within which the post sherds were located.  Once EU 4 was uncovered and fully exposed, we placed a new 2 x 3 m excavation unit over EU 4 and labeled it EU 8.  EU 8 contains EU 4, which is situated at an angle.

The plan of attack is to follow the trench feature, which presented itself within EU 4 last year.  Our hope is to discover just what this trench is and what its purpose was.  There is one posthole in association, and we aim to find more. 

Dr. Greene and myself began excavating EU 8 and quickly busted through the root cap.  Two students joined us on Friday and we set up a 1 x1 m unit (EU 9) just east of EU8 and a 1 x 2 m unit (EU10) just north of EU 8.

EU 9 successfully removed the root cap by the end of the day and EU 10 made decent dent within the root cap.  Dr. Greene and myself have EU 8 almost to the base of level I2 (an arbitrary level system, ie I1, I2, I3, I/II, II)

In order to keep work within EU 8 organized, Dr. Greene and I set up 1 x 1 m sections within the 2 x 3 , unit designated alphabetically (A-F).  Dr. Greene found a small Quartz flake in section C and I found a smaller Quartz flake in section F.

The dark soil stains in association with the trench feature are growing and a possible posthole is present in the NW corner. 

Exciting excavations are in store for our swamp dwellers next week and more expansions and deeper depths are to come.

What will be revealed through further excavation?  Will our own experience of community give us a glimpse into the past or are our own interpretations limited to our lived experience as archaeologists?  Will we find a footprint of a past structure and just how many Clif bars will we consume?

Join us again next week to find out!

Greetings again readers!

Much has taken place since last we’ve visited our swamp wanderers.  Monday was the first day the students were able to see the vastness of the swamp.  We awoke earlier, and after coffee and breakfast, made our way through the great gates of the Dismal Swamp.  Forest quickly enveloped our passage, and wildlife surrounded us.  A great Heron spotted our caravan and decided to help lead us towards our destination, flying just in front of us until it saw we knew the way.

After a bit of driving, we stopped and put on our waders and bug repellant products.  We then looked at the forested path in front of us, and made our way into the heart of the Great Dismal Swamp. 

The first two days involved equipment runs, making the trek slower than it will be in the future.  The new students felt exhilarated, for their swamp adventure was finally beginning.  Several spills (most of which end up a bit muddy) and a few water stops later, we found ourselves on our dig site.  The students were given a brief tour of the area and lunch was enjoyed.

On the first day, Dr. Greene, Mr. Lynch (our geophysical archaeologist) and myself made our way to the North Plateau, where we cleared an area for the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar).  The GPR was completed the next day and moved to the Crest.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sayers and Cyndi (the other TA) began introducing the students to the joys of excavation.  I was able to help a group string up a 1 x 1m excavation unit and aid them in the learning process.

These beginning units are already proving to be interesting, as features are beginning to be apparent.

Unfortunately, I have come down with a debilitating cough, which has made my field time shorter than normal.  I have acquired the needed medication and am taking the needed rest to ensure that next week’s swamp adventures do not occur without me.

So there we have it swamp readers!  Swamp week one complete!  Next week, join Dr. Greene and myself as we make our way to the North Plateau. 

Well, we are not camping this year.  Instead we find ourselves in a very nice house with plenty of space.  The past few days have been spent packing up all of our gear from the lab and then traveling to our living quarters where we have been unpacking.  We started a tradition last year, which was followed this year, so I suppose now is a tradition. The first night we ordered a bunch of pizza.  I do believe most of the students were overjoyed with this decision as the pizza seemed to be eaten quite quickly.

After pizza was had, it was discovered that we were without a coffee pot.  Well, this just would not do.  Dr. Sayers and myself traveled to locate a store that would carry said coffee pot and coffee.  We found our items at a local grocery store, where we also decided to pick up some food for the next day.  Upon entering the grocery store, we noticed a coffee shop to our right.  This seemed to be the appropriate beginning to such a task that was before us.  Freshly caffeinated and two shopping carts later, we were on our way back to the house.  

We were having a refrigerator and washer/dryer delivered to the house the next day, so in the mean time we brought out our large cooler and filled it with ice, so that we could enjoy cold soda and have cold milk/soy milk for the next morning's cereal.  Some may remember this cooler from the 2009 field school where we camped.  It is a large fishing cooler, but has a distinct feature, the handle was almost completely removed by ravenous squirrels determined to gain access to our cooled goods.  Unfortunately for them, the cooler was too thick to get through, and thus out food was safe for our own consumption. 

After the next day's cereal and precious coffee, more errands were needed to be undertaken.  First and foremost was getting the hot water up and running.  The home owner came and showed us what to do and stayed a bit to chat.  As he was visiting, the fridge and washer/dryer arrived and were installed.  After such in-house excitement, it was time to fill the new refrigerator; a contingent of students lead by a TA went to acquire these goods.

Dr. Sayers and myself ventured out to find some of the more practical needs of the house, such as cooking wares, cleaning supplies and the like.  Several hours and more shopping carts later, we are all back home unloading.  Veggie burgers and pita bread was being made during the great unpack and a semblance of order seemed to have begun within the kitchen.

As time passed, hunger began to grow among the students.  Dr. Sayers and myself answered this call with the preparation of dinner.  We made spaghetti with garlic bread and baked asparagus, most of which seemed to have been devoured.

Thus the 6 weeks of communal living has begun.  The first day within the swamp is right around the corner and the excitement grows stronger by the day.  Join us next time to hear about the great equipment trek and the first reactions of a new bunch of students to the Great Dismal Swamp.

Friends and interested folk, welcome to my Swamp log!

This is the first entry of what I hope to be a regularly updated log.

We just wrapped up day two of the 2011 field school.  This is the third year of the field school, being hosted by American University and my third year in attendance.  I return, for the second time, as a teaching assistant, and an active researcher.  The past two days were spend in the lab, introducing the students to the project background, the history revolving around the Dismal Swamp and a workshop in artifact recognition, both those materials commonly found within and outside of the swamp.

After bagels and a great deal of coffee, all of the needed materials have been collected and await the coming journey.  The next step will be to pack and converge at our place of lodging for the remainder of the field session.

Thanks for stopping by and having a look and the first of many swamp logs!  Tune in next time to find out if we made it to the swamp with all screens in tact.

-Jordan