summer excavations

This week has been hot and humid here in central Ohio (and many other parts of the US as well, I've heard). I have been trying to get my walk in either early in the morning or after dinner, to avoid the heat as much as possible.

Last Saturday, I took the camera with me to the dig I have been working on just south of Columbus. We are working on an Archaic burial site. The site was identified by the landowner, who noticed several bodies eroding out of a hillside. It has been worked on, at a leisurely pace, for many years (mainly during the summer, on Saturdays). The times I have been there, we haven't found much. But in past years, they have found several burials.

Me and Meg, who I have worked with in the past:

When this excavation unit was opened up in the morning, we discovered mold growing on the walls. It has been a moist summer. This growth took place in one week.

General site shot. In the foreground, you can see the screen, which is used to process all the dirt we excavate. It is really easy to miss artifacts (especially small ones) when you are digging, so the screen is a way to catch those artifacts. A couple weeks ago, we found a small bead this way. In the background, you can see one of the excavation units currently open and behind that, some of the tarps we use to close the units each week.

Here I am in one of the open units. We were extending the unit east to uncover more of a pit.

A couple of students working at the bottom of the pit. We all take turns.

Here is one of the excavation units all closed up for the day. There are several layers of wood and metal under the tarps, which are held down by rocks. This is to protect the units from weather (we have been having strong rain storms) and cows (who walk all over this area when we are gone).
It was pretty hot already on Saturday, so we needed a lot of water to keep cool (although I drank most of mine). Here you can also see the nice corn field on the edge of the site. The corn is really getting tall.