Our Intrepid 2011 Field School Crew!

From left to right: Lorelei, Andrew, Diana, Cat, Dave, Valerie, Neil, Steve, Nick, Laura, Helen, and Dr. Sampeck.

Smoothed, Stamped, Incised, or Burnished?

Features!

At the start of the day some of the units were already down to the natural soil layer, while others still had to keep digging to get down to theirs due to there being more sediment from flooding over the years. Those of us that were already down to the natural soil began our day in the field by defining our features and mapping them to scale on graph paper. After we finished that we got to start carefully digging up our features and bagging up the dirt for flotation to recover small things like organic material.

Below: Steve Scheflow digging up a post mold and bagging the dirt

Since we were digging much smaller areas and had to be careful not to damage artifacts and to keep the integrity of the shape of the feature we ditched our trowels and started using spoons and dental tools.

Below: Laura Volz works on exposing a pottery sherd with a dental pic

Some of our features had nothing in them, some had a few artifacts, while others (like the above photo) had an abundance of artifacts, including shell (marine & freshwater), pottery sherds, chert, bone and a bone bead. For the features that contain many artifacts we had to dig around them and leave them where were naturally deposited (in situ) in order to see the way they are arranged to help us possibly figure out why they are positioned the way they are. Then once the exposed artifacts have been photographed in situ they can be collected.

Below: Two post molds and a feature with half of the artifacts in situ

As we continue to excavate our units these last two day we hope to find more exciting things in our features that can help give us a better look at the people that once lived on this land we've been digging in.

Mini-Video: Meet Steve Scheflow--Feature Presentation

A day in the sun, finally.

Yesterday morning was filled with thunderstorms, however after waiting for an hour and a half they quickly passed and it turned into a bright sunny day around 8:30 AM. The weather was perfect really, because it dried out the units (those that weren't flooded anyway) and it was only 80 degrees outside, so not too hot.

We got to the field later than usual because of the storms and once there we got to work on either excavating our units or on bailing water out of the flooded units. Afterwards, some units started water screening their dirt right away because it was too wet to dry sift through. Other groups went on like usual.

I started on my third level yesterday and I'm already seeing a difference in my collection of artifacts. The pieces of pottery I'm finding are more often decorated and larger. I'm also finding more complete projectile points and larger pieces of bone too.

When we got back to the cabins we had lab on our own time so that we all could complete our posters. My project is on Cherokee dances. I talk briefly about the origin of Cherokee songs and dances and give examples of some dances too. I also talk about the evidence we have for dancing at our site. We have been able to define an area with a significant lack of artifacts compared to the areas around it that has a circular shape. This was most likely the plaza, where most of the dances would have taken place. We're also finding a large number of turtle shell, especially in the northern units. Many Cherokee dances included turtle shell leg-rattles that were filled with rocks to create music. A lot of this shell was probably used for those dances.

Next week will be our last week here and so we'll continue excavating for a few days and then begin to fill up our units and whatever else necessary to clean up. We also will be presenting our poster presentations on Tuesday so next week should be very busy.

June 23: Guests of Honor

 

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David Watt and Laura Volz outfitted for rain

  The day had a dismal start--rain and more rain.  We went to the site, hoping the rain would break, and eventually it did.  The ground was already saturated from the rain during the past few days, so we continued making dog leash surface collections.

Valerie Hall discovered this ceramic pipe on the surface at the east end of the site

The morning's work brought us close to finishing comprehensive surface collections of the whole settlement area. It is really striking how much the plants have grown since we began the survey. If we did not have the flags from the first week's work, some artifacts would never have been found again!

Lorelei Schak peers into the ground cover to look for artifacts

Cailin Meyer uses her awesome red bag to carry tools of the trade

Bo excavates a plow scar filled with food remains

Later that morning, the threat of rain had subsided, so we opened up the excavation units once again.  We had some special guests--archaeologists from the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Yolanda Saunooke, the Section 106 assistant, and an intern, Bo, arrived at just the right time--we were wrapping up with collections. After a site tour, Bo pitched in with the excavations.  Some units were filled with water again, but others were damp but not overly muddy. Bo was impressed with the soft soil and the abundant artifacts.

Yolanda Saunooke oversees excavations

 We had a longer field day to take advantage of the dry weather and the excellent company. We found well preserved animal bone and large chunks of charcoal.  The students with water filled units pitched in with excavations in drier units and with water screening. In all, it was a great day!

June 21: Hump Day

Helen Brandt plots map points using the Total Station

Another rainy day kept us from returning to excavations until the very end of the day.  Most students continued making dog leash collections and Helen Brandt and Andrew Border were the mapping team.

Andrew Border holds the prism for mapping

A Dog Leash Collection

 Most excavation units were hopelessly wet--some teams dipped water out of their units by hand to make the unit look less like a square swimming pool.  Near the end of the day, crews started to excavate once again, but the threat of another storm encouraged us to pack up and leave for the day. Students returned to the lab to work on their posters for Archaeology Day in Cherokee next week.

Despite the weather challenges, we made great progress in the research of this site.