Work became a good deal slower in Block 1 this week, as we made it through the plowzone and into intact structural deposits. The students are now taking out everything by hand with trowels in order to avoid destroying any intact timbers or shoveling through any features. We are still looking for the floor, and think we may have a line of three posts that forms one of the exterior walls. Next, we'll need to expand our units to the east, where there are unfortunately some large trees in the way!
It's slow going troweling in Block 1, but the recovery will be worth it. Taken facing the trees to the east
We continue to find interesting artifacts in Block 1. While cleaning the walls, Eileen recovered a knife that looks to be a reworked Archaic point.
Shovel testing ramped up this week, as we finished a number of transects in Area 1, all around Block 1. We are surprised at how far the site extends off of the narrow rise where Block One is located and downslope toward the slough that parallels the Mountain Fork. We found several more areas with high lithic densities and numerous Caddo sherds, which we probably will not excavate this summer, but demonstrate the potential for more intact archaeological deposits.
Sarah and Jamie shovel testing downslope.
In the far units, known to the students as the "time out corner", we exposed a feature, which we will bisect on Monday. Although this unit was placed where we recovered the base of an Archaic point, we have found at least seven Caddo projectile points and a number of sherds in the first three levels. I suspect the feature may be a tree, but the students are excited about the prospect of excavating their first feature in the unit.
We are looking forward to see what next week brings, aside from more record high temperatures and poison ivy! Keep checking back for our daily student-written updates!
Amanda Regnier
Oklahoma Archeological Survey
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