Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Dig Day 17. Last day of fieldwork, the crew spent the day excavating two outhouse pits to their base.
Raspberry preserves from England.
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Allen and Tyler's outhouse on the left, Chris and Barry's on the right.
We excavate the outhouses in eight-inch-deep levels, excavating half of the pit then drawing the profile (showing soil layers and artifacts) before doing the other half.
Chris excavating.
We excavate the outhouses in eight-inch-deep levels, excavating half of the pit then drawing the profile (showing soil layers and artifacts) before doing the other half.
Chris excavating.
All of the soil is screened through 1/4-inch mesh and we collect the artifacts and put them into buckets, sorting them at the end of the level.
Adam and Barry screening.
Adam and Barry screening.
It got really hectic at times because we were finding so many artifacts towards the base of both outhouses. The people using them threw a lot of trash down into the pits back in the early 1900s. Among these were bottles whose paper labels were sometimes partially legible.
Raspberry preserves from England.
In one level in Chris and Barry's outhouse we found 39 unbroken bottles.
Most are for medicine or alcohol.
My favorite was a small bottle shaped like a boot.
Boot!
My favorite was a small bottle shaped like a boot.
Boot!
In the afternoon I climbed down into Allen and Tyler's outhouse pit and dug for a few minutes. Of course I ended up finding one of the coolest artifacts I have ever found on an historic site- a hand-carved ivory tube. On one side it has a hunter standing next to a tree and holding a rifle.
Hunter.
Hunter.
On the other side is his hunting dog.
Dog.
At the moment I don't know what the tube was used for, Mike at work thinks it came from a powder flask. I'll have to do a little research to see whether that is correct.
Tomorrow I will work on the clearance letter and then I get to work on another report. I'm pleased to have work lined up for the next six months or so.
