Jax Crawford-Thomas
Throughout this dig, we have learned and worked on a lot of different skills in the world of archaeology. The majority of the skills we’ve learned can be generalized into two categories. Fieldwork, work done outside, and lab work, work done inside. Both types of work are incredibly important to archeological investigations and interpretations of a site. Both of Field and lab work go hand in hand, all be it in different ways, to help archeologists determine what may be happening at a site.
We started off the field school by learning about the area and the history of Nassau Mills. We then moved on to learning about what we have to do in the field and how to survey an area.
Over the next couple of days, we started the excavation of the Nassau Mills site, BcGn-23. We began our fieldwork with a 1×1 unit where we learned how to remove the top grass layer and learned how to keep the walls of our unit straight. And as time went on, we learned how to triangulate, which is the process of making a new 1×1 unit using measuring tapes and the original 1×1 as a guide. As we continued to excavate the area, we learned of to find artifacts, using a shifter, and how archaeological interpretation can change rapidly.
Being in the field was an incredibly fun and educational experience. Over the first couple of weeks, we quickly learned what methods of excavation worked for us and as we got more comfortable with everything process sped up. Over the following days, it was easy to see how much more comfortable we all got with all the different aspects of excavation.
As the month went on, we spent progressively more time in a lab setting. Learning how to clean artifacts, identify the types of materials we were finding, what certain things were, their functions and what they would tell us about the site. I found that as we started lab work my thinking around the artifacts changed. In the lab, I started to focus more on what the artifact was, what years it came from and how it may help us in the future. While in the field I was more interested in finding the artifact and not much else.
I enjoyed the lab work a lot. Being able to see all the things we found is fascinating and I was able to physically see how much better we got about determining what was an artifact and what wasn’t. It was rewarding to see how much we where learning and improving on needed skills. One of the tasks in the lab that I really like is secondary processing, being able to organize all these different artifacts into detailed subcategories was surprisingly fun.
While all work done in a project like Nassau Mills is equally important, what type of work is preferred? I personally prefer the lab work, mostly due to the air conditioning, but the answer to that question is internally dependent on the individual which is why projects like this are incredibly useful as they provide grade hands on experience in a learning environment.
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