Category: Field School 2026

Konrad Morawski

The excavation of OA11 ended up being much more complex than I once thought. On the first day when James and Kate told the foxes that we were going to be digging up a potential basement and all we could see was a couple rocks and a small void, I was expecting a small crawlspace and maybe a couple stones indicating a wall.  Spoiler, I was wrong.

After expanding our original 2x3m grid to a 3x3m grid and removing the top soil we slowly started to uncover a wall. We were surprised to see how much of the wall was still standing and we were able to start visualizing how our wall would connect to the other contexts around us.

Once we had planned and identified all the different contexts in our grid we decided it would be best to dig down the interior context (107) to get a better idea of what room this may have been and what kind of artifacts we would find in it. After a couple more days of excavation we identified context 107 as a fill/destruction deposit from when Trent demolished the house in the 1960s. We were finding glass, ceramics and A LOT of rusty nails.

Nearing the end of the excavation, we found a concrete footing beneath the stone wall that we had previously excavated. This brought up a lot of questions, but thanks to Kate, we were able to identify it as a process called underpinning, which was done to strengthen the stone wall when they dug down to deepen the basement. We decided to dig a 1x1m sondage to try and see how deep the floor was (rather than take down 107 altogether), and thankfully, we were able to find it before we started backfilling.

I think one of the best parts about the field school was seeing in real time how much I improved in terms of confidence in excavating and my ability to identify artifacts. If I look back on the first day versus the last one I can see a huge difference. Another cool part was seeing all of the content that I learned in class start to appear in real life. For example, I was able to identify a lot of bones using what I learned from Archaeozoology, which I didn’t think I was going to be able to do, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Sarah Kennedy

Starting this archaeology field school, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have never been a big outdoors person, and yet I signed up to spend a month outside digging in the dirt. I really wanted the experience though, and to truly understand what it meant to do archaeology and work in the field. After the first couple of days, I started to get it, I had dirt under my fingernails, my hands were muddy, my pants were covered in dirt, I was sweating, but it was fine. Not caring about the dirt and the outdoors allowed me to fully immerse myself in the experience and get the job done, and I actually really enjoyed it. Sifting through the dirt and finding things was my favorite part, I got really good at picking things out from organic material. I even had Kate and James say “good eye” for finding something small or identifying bone from other materials, which made me feel like maybe I did know what I was doing, and was decent at it.

            As an anthropology major, I spend a lot of time looking at bones in classrooms, but I never had the opportunity to apply that knowledge in a real world setting until now. Knowing what was bone and what wasn’t was very helpful while sifting through the dirt, I even had my group members (the snakes) asking me if something was bone or not and which bone it might be. This made me feel like all those endless hours of lectures and labs talking about and analyzing bones weren’t a waste.

This was another really cool find from unit OA-11 that I got to do some research on to find out exactly what it was. These are fragments from an Alfred Meakin plate dating to the 1930s+. What you see is a small fragment of the rim of the plate with this silver detailing, and then a fragment with the name Alfred Meakin in green on it which would have been on the underside of the plate.

Johanna St-Denis

On May 6^th, our group, the Snakes, were assigned to OA-12 of site BcGn-15. 

By the 7^th, we had mostly exposed a concrete wall-like structure on the northeastern part of the site.  It was no wider than a foot and sat diagonally. We continued to excavate and had completed most of our work. This also included expanding our operations unit. We had moved so much material by the 3^rd week that we didn’t think of revisiting our first feature.

It wasn’t until May 20^th, after heavy rainfall, that we discovered our wall had a small surprise. Thanks to the rain, whatever sediment was left on it was washed away, but a bit settled into these imprints. Multiple dog prints were found all along the top of our wall. We also found more dog paw prints on other concrete fragments on the 25^th. 

The original house had been there since the late 1800s. Between 1929 and its demolition in the mid-1960s, an addition was made. This addition has concrete foundations, and at least one curious dog decided to have a look before the concrete had cured. 

As this area would have been rural farmland, it wouldn’t have been uncommon for a dog to be kept. Most of the prints were relatively large, indicating that the breed itself would’ve been on the larger side as well. Though it isn’t possible to know the exact breed, a range could be estimated.

At the time, most dogs would’ve been working animals and not kept solely as pets, especially those living on a farm. From animal herding, pest control, hunting and trapping, the dogs would’ve been useful. It is also probable that the dog was used for security, whether to scare off larger animals like bears or coyotes, or to alert the owners of an approaching person, man’s best friend would’ve done their best. Mixed breeds were the most likely, and ‘purebreds’ like Shepards, Collies, Terriers and hounds wouldn’t have been impossible either, though they were more expensive. Either way, it was a sweet surprise.

As an animal lover myself, I was pleasantly surprised by our lucky find.

Danielle Walton

Before starting the field school, I was quite nervous as I didn’t know what to expect or who I would be meeting. But now as the field school is coming to an end, I can say I was worried for nothing as this experience has taught me so much.

I was very lucky to be part of the group referred to as the Foxes, inspired by the fox we saw in the first week of field school. We got very lucky with the plot OA11 on the site BcGn-15 as there was a wall already visible before we even began excavating, this was believed to be part of the basement which we learned more about as we continued to dig. Near the beginning of the course, we had to extend our plot east as it did not cover the entirety of the wall. When we began digging it was quite slow as we were constantly worried that we had hit another context. This is particularly hard as there were many patches of ash and burnt nails, but as we learned more about the context these patches were just part of a backfill. Learning more of the context at OA11 led to us being able to move more quickly through the layers as we revealed the basement.

    The majority of finds in OA11 were rusty nails with many being burnt, but there were also a lot of cool ceramics shards that we found. One of my favourite finds was when we found multiple parts of the same teacup with this very pretty decalcomania floral design, meaning that the design was printed on top of the glaze. With it being printed on top means it can be rubbed off and leave these ghost designs. The cup is of fluted design with gold colouring on the rim. As for the material we believed it was bone china, I was able to confirm this after Kate’s suggestion of shining a light through the cup shard. Other than the general design name and material I was not able to find any other information about it. 

I am so thankful to the awesome group I was a part of as they made this field school a lot more fun and enjoyable. Thank you, Kate and James, for running this field school. It was so much fun and I learned a lot of what to expect when I continue my career as an archaeologist. 

Hannah Giblin

My group, known collectively as the Ladybugs, worked mainly on OA2, which was the midden of BcGn-15. This means it is, in essence, the garbage pit. This may sound unfortunate, but much can be learned from this kind of unit. Many objects used and discarded by the household end up here. One of the coolest finds from our unit is a brass razor handle from a 1912 patented Ever Ready Brass Safety Razor. When we discovered it, the brass-coloured handle was immediately striking. We all marvelled over how bright it was in contrast to the soil.

Once it was cleaned, the brass was even more apparent, though! Despite being buried for decades, the handle is remarkably well-preserved.

Ever Ready brand was an American company known for razors that were considered safer and more durable than straight razors, as they jumped on the invention of the safety razor blade in the early 1900s, making them an increasingly popular alternative. The handle features an ornate Art Deco design, with a geometric motif adorning it, popular in the 1930s. Although lost to us, the razor would have once had a detachable head included that screwed on to hold the disposable razor blade.

While conducting research into the razor handle, I discovered that there is a widespread online community of people who use vintage razors. The Ever Ready Safety Razor is highly recommended and sought after within these circles to this day. It is incredible to think that the homeowner discarded it and now, over a century later, people are trying desperately to locate one. One man’s trash really is another man’s treasure!