Amélie Rolland-Lamothe
When Emily and I were assigned to work on Operation 1B, we knew we were close to a rich midden previously excavated in 2017 and 2018, just a few meters away. This midden was known to be abundant with artifacts. Our goal was to reach the same stratigraphic level and collect as many objects as possible to gain insights into the lifestyle of the house’s previous occupants.
For two full days, we toiled on our 3×3 meter operation, removing the sod and excavating the landscaping fill, which yielded mostly plastic bags and cafeteria forks—items of no historical value. Eventually, we encountered a layer of rocks that our shovels couldn’t get through. Pickaxes came in very useful, and finally allowed us to make progress. We meticulously screened every single bucket of dirt and rocks to ensure no nail or ceramic fragment was missed. However, as we continued to encounter near sterile contexts, our hope began to wane. Had we missed our objective by just half a meter? Were we digging in vain?
It was then decided we would perform a 1×1 meter test unit in the southwest corner of our operation. Pouring all our efforts into deeper excavation, we finally started to find many nails, ceramic fragments, glass, metals, and a greater variety of objects. We had reached the sought-after context: the midden! Gone were the small artifact paper bags; we were now filling crates! We dug and strained, and dug and strained for hours, until we eventually reached the natural ground, which contained no artifacts. Then, we had to ensure our unit was perfectly square, with vertical walls scraped clean with a trowel and an even floor. We sometimes wondered quietly why we spent so much time making our unit so precise, knowing it would soon be filled in again. But we were there to learn, so we did it.
After investing so much time and effort into making sure we didn’t miss any artifacts and making our unit pristine, we grew quite attached to it and the artifacts we discovered. It was mine and Emily’s unit, and we were very proud of it!
The next step was to take measurements and draw our unit’s stratigraphic profile. Other teams also had their turn at drawing and measuring it, just as we did with theirs, recording elevations with the total station and drawing plans of the excavated architecture. Their work also contributed to our learning of new skills.
Reflecting on all the effort that went into working on Operation 1B, I see a parallel with the life cycle of the artifacts we excavated. Just as people cared for and held onto these objects while they served a purpose, only to discard them when they were no longer needed, our effort in excavating our unit and making it so clean served science and education.
Now that we’ve gathered all the information we needed and honed our drawing and measurement skills, it’s time to let go. Time to fill our unit back up, never to be seen again.
And I’m fine with it.
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