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!
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!
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