May 20-26: A busy week to start the fieldwork!

The 2013 field school had a great beginning. Usually we spend the first day getting oriented to lab procedures and the archaeological collections. This year, we set off to do survey work, as well. We began by surveying 40GN13,  site recorded in Greene County. The field is currently being used as a pasture and was covered in buttercups. Because the visibility of the ground surface was difficult because of the dense vegetation, students used a small auger to take column soil samples to see if we could recover evidence of human occupation

We placed these auger tests in an even spacing of every 15 meters and had tested most of the hillside by Tuesday. The clay was tough and it was a challenge to get each sample! We recovered several pieces of chert flakes and carefully chipped tools.

On Wednesday, we began surveying in a very different setting: a plowed cornfield, the location of 40WG11, a site recorded in Washington County. As you can see in the photo, the corn plants were very small.

The survey conditions were excellent due to recent plowing and recent rains. The rain, in fact, prevented us from going to the field on Thursday morning, and when we ventured out to the site to work, the ISU van got stuck in the mud. I am glad to say that we extracted the van through a great team effort.