Test Pit #6

So, I actually wrote this post a few weeks ago but wasn't able to actually post it until now so think of it as a flash back to when we weren't digging excavation units.

On 4/16/11 my group consisting of Kristen, Promise, and I dug test pit #6 on the bottom of the hill. It was situated on the transect of 10m-20m on the East Bering line and on 40m on the North Bering line. It was near a yellow flag but I do not know what the yellow flag was marking. We were digging a 50cm x 50cm pit but we were unable to dig that deep. The top layer of dirt was very hard and dry. It was difficult to break ground even when standing on the shovel. There were cracks in the ground which helped with the digging but then resulted in huge dirt clumps that we had to break with our trowels and the shovel. From 10-20cmd the ground was a little bit softer and moister with dirt clumps. From 20-30cmd the dirt was very soft and powdery when it wasn't in clumps. Most of what we found was in the 0-10cmd level and we found less things the deeper we went. The main things of what we found was a nail, a hook/bent nail (not sure which), and some charcoal. Overall, it wasn't very promising which is probably why all our excavation units were placed at the top of the hill. It was nice to finally dig though and to not have to do surface survey or use the transit compass, neither of which are my favorite things to do in class.