2018 Videos

Videos: 2018 Field Season

This page lists the weekly videos produced during the 2018 field season at 38FA608. If you want to watch the feature length version of the season with all the videos edited together, go here.

Week 1 (January 15-19, 2018)

Activities in Week 1 included ferrying some basic field equipment to the site, assembling screens, and re-establishing the outlines of the "upstairs" excavation block that we started in 2017. At the end of the 2017 season, we lined the sides and floor of the block with landscape fabric and plywood and filled it in completely, protecting the unexcavated archaeological deposits from exposure to the elements. We removed much of the backfill from the block on the first day of the field school, leaving some on the floor of Units 4 and 6 to prevent damage until we're ready to excavate further.

Week 2 (January 26, 2018)

During our Week 2 day in the field, we laid out a new 2x2 m unit (Unit 12) at the north end of the block and began excavation of level 7 in Unit 5. Excavation of Unit 12 was started as a series of arbitrary levels ending in the first plowzone so that the students could get some experience creating a flat floor before we begin shoveling into undisturbed deposits.

I also did some planning for opening up some new units along the machine cut in order to excavate several prehistoric pit features that are exposed in the wall.

Week 3 (February 2, 2018)

The weather smiled upon us again, and a morning forecast of "miserable" gave way to a cool, partly sunny day. On our third day in the field, we began piece-plotting artifacts in Level 7 of Unit 5, continuing the process of bringing that unit down to the depth where Units 4 and 6 terminated last season. The upper plowzone (Zone 1) was removed from Unit 12 as a natural level, exposing the expected plow scars at the interface with the lower plowzone (Zone 2).

We did some triangulation to establish some grid points north of Unit 9 (from last year) to continue regularizing the profile wall. My plan is to excavate several units down from the top edge to salvage what's left of Features 3, 4 and 5. We will break ground on Unit 13 during our next day in the field.

Week 5 (February 16, 2018)

Unfortunately, an illness prevented me from taking students into the field on what would have been Week 4 (February 9). We returned to the field on the 16th.

After resolving some minor problems with the grid, we began excavating Unit 13 (placed to get to one of the cultural features exposed in the machine-cut wall) and Unit 3 (in the excavation block). Piece-plotting continued in Level 7 of Unit 5.

We encountered historic postholes extending from the base of the upper plowzone into the lower plowzone in Unit 12. After documenting them, the students began removing the lower plowzone (Zone 2) as a natural level. Mississippian-age ceramic debris was plentiful in Zone 2, which may have been a sheet midden before being plowed. Deep pockets of Zone 2 may have not been plowed, and there may be truncated features extending from the base of the zone.

Week 6 (February 23, 2018)

Today we finally removed the large rocks that had been occupying Unit 5 since last season. One of them turned out to be largely unmodified, but the other was . . . watch the video and find out!

Work continued in Units 12 and 13 to prepare to expose Late Archaic features in plan prior to excavating them. Removal of Zone 2 in Unit 12 did reveal a probable Woodland/Mississippian feature. We're going to avoid excavation of that feature for now and concentrate on taking the southern portion of Unit 12 down to the level of Feature 13. I removed the remainder of the backdirt protecting Features 10 and 11 in the block.

We're almost through Zone 2 in the profile wall unit (Unit 13), which will put us near the top of Feature 3.

In other words, we'll be able to start excavating features during the next day in the field.

Week 7 (March 2, 2018)

Today we began the excavation of Feature 11 (a Late Archaic pit feature (?) in Unit 6), but only got as far as cleaning and documenting in plan. Because the feature intrudes into earlier deposits, excavating it will require some care and more work (and paperwork) than excavating a feature that is surrounded by a sterile matrix.

Excavations in Unit 13 are sneaking up on the top of Feature 3 (exposed in the machine-cut wall), so we will hopefully be able to begin working on that feature during our next day in the field.

Excavations continued in Unit 3 to remove the second plowzone (revealing a surprise beneath Zone 2) and in Unit 12 to get down to the level of Feature 13.

Week 8 (March 9, 2018)

Today's work focused on the excavation of two features. Feature 3, finally exposed in plan by Unit 13, was removed completely. Feature 11, in the block, was more challenging as excavations to bisect it have to penetrate into a cultural zone that we are removing using a piece-plot methodology.

Week 9 (March 23, 2018)

After a week off for spring break, work resumed in the block and at the wall. In the block, we continued excavating to expose Feature 11 in profile, and began work on Feature 12. Along the wall, work in Unit 13 revealed in situ Late Archaic diagnostic artifacts (two Savannah River points) in the deposits into which Feature 3 had penetrated. It was a busy, eventful day!

Week 10 (March 30, 2018)

It was another eventful day. We got to the bottom (literally) of Features 11 and 12 in the block, exposing profiles of both. More Savannah River points, at least one of which was associated with a possible feature, came out of Unit 13. Snakes were also in attendance. There was a big cookie. It doesn't get much better.

Week 11 (April 6, 2018)

This is a long one, as it includes footage from an extra day in the field working on Unit 13 with two student volunteers. We dealt with the stained area (designated Feature 17) and discovered several possible postmolds in the process. Friday's work in Unit 13 focused on investigating those possible postmolds, continuing to take Unit 13 down, and getting creative with the pickup truck to profile the upper sections of the Unit 13 walls just in case of a collapse. In the block, Features 11 and 12 were profiled and their remaining portions almost (but not quite) removed. Piece-plotting continued in Unit 5.

Week 13 (April 20, 2018)

The end game is in full swing, as we finish features in the block, work to get Unit 13 down to where it needs to be so the profile can be buttressed, and start backfilling. Also . . . lots of snakes.

Week 14 (April 27, 2018)

On our last regular day at 38FA608 this season, we focused on backfilling the block and collecting one last level and a profile from Unit 13. Chris Moore and Mark Brooks joined us to collect a sediment column from Unit 13, and the students put together a pitch-in feast for the last day. A Middle Archaic (ca. 5000 BC) Morrow Mountain point recovered from the last level of Unit 13 creates new questions to be addressed about the age of the basal deposits at the levee.

Postscript: Buttoning up the Wall (May 2, 2018)

DuVal and I returned to the site to take some final notes on the profile of Unit 13 before building a structure to protect it in the off-season. At the urging of my online colleagues, I used the music of the band Drummel.

The 2018 Season

This video contains all of the weekly videos edited together for your viewing convenience.