Mason Giroux
An archeological test unit goes through many stages, mainly the layers of excavation, however there is also the discovery of certain features that also contribute to the stages such as the discovery of a foundation. In this post I will discuss the evolution of a test unit that I and Romy excavated in the site behind Trent University.
The first step in a test unit’s life is plotting, that is to say using a string to plot/plan out what will be excavated. For mine and Romy’s unit it was placed on top of a possible base of a dwelling and as for the unit itself it is 2m x 2m see plotted unit below.
It is after the plotting that the first stages of excavation must begin, for this unit that involves the taking of the grass and plant roots of the topsoil, after this this first layer of excavation is to be done, for this particular unit layers were being dug in 10 cm intervals. During the excavation as artifacts are present in the soil it must be sifted and all artifacts are bagged. See below the unit stripped of plant material and after the first 10 cm layer excavation.
After this first layer is excavated a unit form that relays all the necessary information of this particular level is filled out. Now this same process of excavation, sifting and form writing was continued on in the 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm and 30-40 cm range. That being said, at around 20-30 cm a large collection of rocks could be viewed which may have been structural which is why the excavation happens around the collection of rocks until it is proven to or not to be a feature such as a structure in this case.
After the excavation to the 40 cm range it could be confirmed that the stony collection was most likely some debris but not structural. That being said, there was a piece of wood that could be planking revealed at this level. Due to time constraints the 2m x 2m unit became a 1m x 1m unit targeted on this possible planking. This unit was brought down to near 60 to 70 cm and revealed a large brick of concrete as well as a piece of wood which the concrete seems to rest on; these features are most likely structural. This however would be the end of this unit. It is here that the final mapping and documentation of the unit is taken and photos of it are taken, after all this recording is concluded the unit is backfilled with the extracted soil.
This being said the unit lives on through the artifacts retrieved from it see below artifacts from the 10-20 cm layer of mine and romy’s test unit. In this image the artifacts are displayed after the washing that they must go through before categorization.
All this shows the many stages of “life” that an excavation unit goes through as well as some of the things that they can reveal throughout their short lives.
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