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Videos: 2020 Field Season

This page lists the weekly videos from the 2020 field season at 38FA608. If you want to watch the videos from 2018, go here.
Prep Day (January 15, 2020)

DuVal and I moved some equipment to the site and took a quick look around. An unsupported portion of the wall had (unfortunately) collapsed at some point since 2018. We assembled the new tool box and scoped out some nearby fields as candidates for surface survey.
Week 1 (January 17, 2020)

Following an orientation and some preliminary stuff in the classroom, we arrived at the site at around 10:45. The field school has full student enrollment this year and personnel from the Heritage Trust Program of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will also be participated as their schedules allow.  

The first day was spent assembling screens, locating the corners the excavation block and beginning to remove the backfill in the block, and dealing with some sediment that had slumped from the remaining unprotected/unexcavated portion of the wall. Unfortunately, what remained of Feature 5 (a Late Archaic pit feature that was partially exposed by the original machine cut) appears to have fallen off the wall. Hopefully by the end of this season we'll have that section of the wall straightened out so that it can be protected from the elements with some plywood.
Week 2 (January 24, 2020)

In our first (potentially) full day at the site, we stared down some rainy weather, set up two new units to expand the block, and continued to deal with the problem of slumping sediments at the north end of the wall.

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Week 3 (January 31, 2020)

This was a short day in the field: we were at the site for less than an hour before it began raining. During that time, however, we did manage to get the block bailed out and two trees cut down. Removal of the trees was important, as they would prevent the excavation of a new unit along the wall that will create a plumb surface that can be stabilized to prevent further collapses.
Week 4 (February 7, 2020)

A day that started out with the promise (finally) of good weather presented us with new challenges. SPOILER ALERT: we prevailed!

Excavations of the first levels of Units 15 and 16 (new block units) were ongoing, and we removed backfill to prepare to excavate deeper into the Late Archaic deposits already exposed by Units 4 and 6. We also broke ground on a new unit (Unit 14) along the wall.

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Week 5 (February 14, 2020)

We finally got a in a full day in the field. There were more setbacks in Unit 14, however, as the weather landed a body blow while we were gone. But work progressed in the block as several new parts of the excavation began.
Week 6 (February 21, 2020)

Work continued in the block units and Unit 14 along the wall. The wet spring continues to provide plenty of water.
Week 7 (February 28, 2020)

It was another chilly but sunny and precipitation-free day. Unit 14 is down to the depth where we expect to encounter the Savannah River component, though artifact density has been very light so far. The removal of the plowzones continued in the new block units (Units 15 and 16), and piece-plotting continued in sub-plowzone deposits in Units 3 and 5.

The recent flood left a large deposit of sand in the swale next to the site, demonstrating how high-energy water transports the sandy sediments and creates stratified archaeological sites.
Week 8 (March 6, 2020)

It was a beautiful day and we made progress on all the units that were open. The find of a large Yadkin point in Unit 15 added to our knowledge of the later prehistoric occupations of the site, and the recovery of an in situ Savannah River point in Unit 14 reconfirmed the stratigraphic position of that component.
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Unfortunately, this was the last day in the field for the students. The university moved to a distance learning format for the remainder of the semester in response to the spread of COVID-19 across the country.
Solo Day 1 (March 25, 2020)

In my first day alone at the site, I worked on getting Unit 14 down to a depth where the walls could be protected. I managed to do four 10 cm levels after having to ferry my equipment across a flood-swollen ditch by climbing across on fallen trees.
Solo Day 2 (April 3, 2020)

In my second day at 38FA608 by myself, I managed five more levels in Unit 15. At the end of the day I encountered two Guilford (Middle Archaic) hafted scrapers and a possible feature in Level 16. This further cements the stratigraphic location of the Guilford component and adds to our knowledge of the oldest components present in the upper 2m of the site.
Solo Day 3 (April 7, 2020)

In my third solo day at 38FA608, I finished up Unit 14 for the season. I excavated a probable Middle Archaic feature and got the unit floor down far enough that I could place some temporary protection (landscape fabric, plywood, and dirt) on the walls of the unit.