Christy Rocks

Lots of awesome things happened today over at good old CU2, 
and I'll be posting about them later.

But really... doesn't this kind of just say it all? :D

Day 5 On-Site

This week was awesome. I had a gung ho team and we worked hard all day--augur in the morning, excavation unit in the afternoon. We got a lot done and had fun doing it. Thanks to Tung for showing Vanessa, Sandra and I how to augur down near the site datum. Vanessa documented dirt samples with the Munsell guide, while Sandra worked the augur and I screened the dirt. At 20cm below, we switched duties but quickly found that the augur wouldn't dig. After spending the rest of the morning inventing new ways to augur and sweating it out, we had only dug 1cm deeper (total of 21cm, rather than 60cm as originally planned). I wish we had a photo! Professor Hartley brought out the steel probe and corer in a last attempt to find something near the augur pit, but no luck. The corer was already bent so we didn't try using it. The steel probe got into the earth with Andrew's help, but Brenna concluded that there wasn't much to be found here. Professor Hartley agreed, so we opened our excavation unit uphill with the rest of the class.



Thanks to crew chief Brenna for teaching Sandra and I how to start an excavation unit (CU4) and keeping us to the scientific methods of archeology. After measuring and staking the 1 x 2 meter unit with pink string, and using the Pythagoream Theorem to ensure 90 degree angles, the team began the real physical work of leveling the unit. Since the unit is on a slight slope, the higher dirt needs to be scraped, removed, and screened. The dried earth added challenges and extra steps, which will likely be compounded as the weeks go on. Around 1600 a 3 x 6cm light orange pottery sherd (not unlike the artifacts shown during Dr. Mendoza's lecture) was discovered in the southwest corner of our unit. Using a plumbob, line level, and tape measure we plotted the artifact, then bagged it.



It would be a good experience to rotate to different units, but there is also experience to be had in staying with the same unit for the entire process. I would like to work in the same unit from start to finish. Of course it is up to the Prof, but for the sake of discussion... What do you guys think?

Description of the Artifacts

Hey guys!

Last week Jamie, Stephen, and I worked together to organize the artifacts we had collected so far, we cataloged them in a list by test pit/auger so here it is!

Description of artifacts:

Test pit # 1 4/23/11

0-30cm bs:

Ceramic, red brick material, burnt bone

Test pit # 1 4/30/11

0-20 cm bs:

Brick, cement, bone

20-30 cm bs: glass bead, charcoal, nails, screw, ceramic-ware

Test pit #2A

0-20cm bs: bone, brick, tile

Test pit #2B

0-10cm bs: rodent dentary, bone fragments, diagnostic bone, glass, historical nail, brick

Test pit #3A

0-20cm bs: tile, red brick, possible bone, wood

20-30cm bs: bone, brick, glass

Test pit #3B

0-10cm bs: glass (amber and clear colored), greenish glass shards, red brick, white material

10-22 cm bs: glass shards, bone bits, cement, burned ceramic, wood, seeds, tile, possible mortar, tile with dark band in the middle, burned bone

22-30cm bs: small metal binding or clamp

27 cm bs: large brick piece

Test pit #4

0-10cm bs: earthenware, ceramics, seeds, tile, cement, igneous rock, historical nail

10-20cm bs- bone, seed, brick, ceramic

20-30cm bs: nails, ceramic/earthenware, glass, brick, tile, metallic corroded material

Test pit #5

0-10cm bs: nail, cement, brick, bone shard (non-diagnostic)

10-20cm bs: bone frags, rock with scratch in it, burnt rock, tile, glass, brick, nails

20-30 cm bs: tile fragments, brick, glass, charcoal, bone

Test pit #6

0-10cm bs: brick, possible mortar, wood shards

10-20cm bs: mortar, tile, wood

Test pit #7

0-30cm bs: brick, ceramic, tile shard

Test pit #8

0-15 cm bs: 2 white outside rim ceramic sherds with blue center, possible porcelain brick, tile, processed metal, imprinted?

15-30 cm bs: brick, mortar

Test pit # 9

0-10cm bs: brick, mortar, blue glass bead, non-human rib, 2 pottery sherds, tile shard, glass

10-20 cm bs: possible obsidian flake, brick, tile, glass (milky pearlish color), bone

Test pit #10

20-30 cm bs: 2 clumps of possible mortar

Test pit #11

0-10 cm bs: mortar, brick, frags, wire hook

10-20cm bs: charcoal, tile

20-30 cm bs: pos. mortar, charcoal, brick, tile

AC #1

Surface- earthenware with floral pattern

AC #2

0-25cm bs: seeds

Auger #3

Possible coal, brick with dark band in cross section

Auger #5 0-80 cm bs

Bag 1 0-20cm: brick, pottery

20-40cm: black material, charcoal, nail, wood

40-60cm: light colored stone, metal, brick, wood

60-80cm: nail, black rock

Auger #6

0-25cm: brick, cement

25-50cm: seeds

50-75cm: seeds

Transit & Stadia Rod Info

Hi Friends,

I don't know if anyone else has a hard time keeping the information on how to use and read transits and stadia rods in their heads, but I sure do! I did a bunch of research, and thought I'd post my results here.

A Nice Tutorial on the Using and Reading the Transit

I found it surprisingly difficult to find information on "How To Read A Stadia Rod". I think it might be because there are so many different styles of stadia rods, and they all have different measurement markings. The info I have here isn't specific to the 3 Meter Stadia Rod we've been using, but I found it helpful. I hope you do too!

How To Read A Stadia Rod, Including Info on the Stadia Constant

If anyone else has info they'd like to share on these two instruments, I hope you'll feel free to post it here! Goodness knows I can use all the help I can get.  :)