During excavation we spend a lot of time digging and sifting through soil, or watching the surface of the ground for artifacts that may be present and can provide us with some information on the lives of the people who were living there in the past. There may be some information initially visible when something is found, but usually the artifacts need to be cleaned and further processed in order to actually understand what it can actually tell us about what activities were occurring at a site. When artifacts are found we place them into bags with the information for where, when, and by who they were found and then set aside to be washed later.
A tray of artifacts pre-cleaning.
Washing artifacts is a very satisfying process where artifacts are placed into a small sieve in a small bin of water and then scrubbed with a toothbrush to remove the dirt from the artifact’s surface.
Me scrubbing away at a handful of artifacts (Photo taken by Falon).
More of me scrubbing away (photo also taken by Falon).
After we find the artifacts to be sufficiently cleaned with as much of the dirt off them as possible we lay them out onto trays with other artifacts from the same bag so that they can dry off while still remaining with other artifacts of the same context. The trays are then placed on drying racks and left to dry for a while so they can be further processed later.
A tray full of cleaned artifacts.
Trays full of cleaned artifacts left to dry on a drying rack.
By May 12th, most of BcGn-17 was done being excavated, except for a feature in OA2 that still needed further examination. This resulted in most of the class moving to BcGn-15, except for a small group of us (Megan, Syd, Emma, Hailey, and I) who stayed back to excavate the feature, which took just over 3 days.
OA2 before we started to excavate the feature
The following is a dramatized retelling of this excavation, loosely inspired by listening to “Epic: The Musical” as we worked:
The class moved away from the first site, moving onwards to new challenges and leaving only a few to remain. Those who stayed knew their goal and that they were the only ones left to complete it, so they began with haste.
They split the great feature on the diagonal, leaving one side untouched while commencing work on the other. This start was deceptively simple, for they could not know the obstacles that would soon engulf them. They removed rock after rock, a tedious task but rewarding as they soon began to find artifacts. They excitedly continued, finding glass, charcoal, bones, brick, nails, and more. However, as time wore on they became increasingly aware of the rising temperatures. The sun was relentless, beaming down on them as they worked unabated due to the lack of wind and/or cover. Still, the group continued, unwilling to surrender to the challenge they pushed on.
Emma, Megan, and I working on excavating the feature in OA2 (photo taken by Hailey)
As the students got deeper they came face to face with something they did not expect- water. They were confused, but then realized what they had found was the water table, a sign that they were almost as far as they could go, but not quite as they had only scratched the surface and still needed to fully reach the table. This is when the rain started. At first, it was refreshing, a change of pace from the previous sweltering heat, soon became something else. While the students dug they quickly became overcome by the mud, the combination of water from the rain and the water table had swiftly created an area of sheer chaos. However, the students were too close to turn back then. They used everything they had to finish what they had begun. It was overpoweringly cold and wet, but they continued on until they were, at last, done.
END
Syd, Emma, Hailey, and I trying to lift a big rock out of the mud at the bottom of our unit (photo taken by Megan)
While that account was an exaggeration meant to be fun, the main points are right and I will now elaborate a little on the main events and finds. Essentially, there was a feature in OA2 that we wanted to partially excavate so we could determine what its purpose was. We removed the large rocks and dirt from the feature while collecting the artifacts that we found within it. As we excavated we found mainly architectural artifacts like brick (frogged), mortar, glass, and nails as well as some possible food-related remains like bones and charcoal. The feature seems to have continued past the water table, but due to the water, we had to stop there. Based on what we found, we suspect that this area was a root cellar under a kitchen that had a brick chimney. I found the evidence of the chimney to be particularly interesting as it was very apparent as we excavated. There was a pattern where whenever we would unearth a large rock, underneath it we would find brick, mortar, and large pieces of charcoal, these three artifacts kept appearing and seemed to be in sequence with each other. This is a connection that likely indicates the presence of a brick chimney.
A large piece of charcoal in the unit
A frogged brick from the unit
By the end of our excavation, we had taken the 67 cm deep unit down to 125 cm, determined a reasonable theory on the nature of the feature, and got totally covered in mud. It was chaotic and hard work, but super fun.
It started as just another day of excavating on site BcGn-15. While our comrades, the rats and raccoons, worked on their respective units, four of the earthworms, Avery, Cam, Lauren and I would take turns digging and sifting the contents of our unit, OA 7. The digging felt slow, with my shovel repeatedly pinging off rocks before finding purchase in the compact soil underneath. Sifting was not much of a break with the amount of shaking of the screen required to pass all the loose dirt and small rocks. We kept finding bits of glass, ceramic sherds and nails. Lots of nails. Long nails, short nails, bent nails. All very rusty, but nails, nonetheless. Until Avery, while sifting, found scraps of paper with legible writing on them. This was exciting as it broke the increasing monotony of finding rusty nails and pieces of broken glass. While all artifacts are important and help archeologists better understand the site, some generate more excitement than others. These scraps of paper being one of them.
We quickly showed James and Kate the paper scraps and they reported back to us that at least one fragment was from George Orwell’s Animal farm. As shown in the picture above, you can clearly read ‘Snowball’, one of Manor farm’s pigs. This was exciting, for it was something that I knew. I read Animal Farm in high school. To find an old fragment of it in a university class was really cool.
To find not only paper but a fragment with clearly visible words on it is thrilling since paper preserves incredibly poorly over time, so it is rarely found in an archeological context. Specific conditions are needed for paper artifacts to be conserved since it is vulnerable to light, water, damp conditions, insects and heat. Paper also requires delicate handling, especially as it ages.
Since we know what book the paper fragments come from, we now have a terminus post quem for the unit. A terminus post quem is the earliest possible date for an object. Because Animal Farm was published for the first time in 1945, the deposit found in OA7 cannot be older than that. This is very useful information for we are finding objects that are older than 1945 such as the metal horse-drawn carriage step, the one that Kate wrote a post about. This indicates that OA7 was potentially a garbage dump.
Surveying is one the most important parts of the archaeological process. Surveying is used to accurately record the location of artefacts and test units, as well as the elevation across the site.
During this field school, three main instruments were introduced to us: the dumpy level, the theodolite, and the total station. All three of these can spin 360º, and have a powerful scope to narrow in on the target. All three are set up on a tripod and have to be levelled, which takes some practice but we got better over the days we were surveying.
First, the dumpy level was just shown to us, and we did not actually use it. The main difference between this and the other survey instruments is that the dumpy level only can record horizontal angles; the scope does not adjust vertically. A photo of a dumpy level can be seen below, from the Civil Engineering Portal website.
The theodolite is the next step up, and the first instrument that I used. Similar to the dumpy, it takes the horizontal angle, but also the vertical angle, however it does not know where it is, or which way is north. In order to record points, you must find north (whether true north, or a rough determined north) and set the zero to it. As you point the scope to your target, the screen shows the horizontal angle and the vertical angle. Either by using a combination of the vertical angle, the height of the instrument, and some trigonometry, or a measuring tape, the distance of the target can be found. After which, the coordinates can be determined in the lab. For elevation, the vertical angle is set to 90º, and is aimed at a stadia rod (giant meter stick), and the numbers are taken down. The higher the number, the lower the spot is. These elevations are taken at a regular interval. I had used a theodolite on the first site (BcGn-17). During this time, we were given a simulated artefact scatter, where we mapped the location of all the artefacts and set up 10 1×1 metre test units. James also broke down some rough pricing for us, saying that on average, a company would charge $400-$500 per test unit, putting our fairly small scatter at $4000-$5000. This price could be negotiable depending on the company’s need for work or desire for the site.
For my second time surveying, my group used the total station, also at our first site (BcGn-17). This is the most advanced of the three instruments due to its on-board computer. It can take the coordinates of the targets, by inputting the coordinates and zeroing it north. It does this by shooting an infrared beam to a prism, which is a mirror on a stick. It can also take elevation data, with the onboard computer once again doing the math for you, as long as the instrument height is entered. All of these numbers are stored on the instrument, and a USB stick can be plugged into it to transfer the data to a computer later on. My group affectionately named the total station Wilhelm during this round of survey.
My last time surveying, my group exclusively took elevation data for the second site we were on (BcGn-15). We took a scatter of points, and elevations of other groups’ units. Here we ran into a menu error, but we were able to rectify the issue back in the lab, thankfully. Below is a picture of my group in action taking elevation data for BcGn-15.
I am really grateful for the opportunity to survey three times during the field school. It is not only really interesting but also very enjoyable. Looking on towards the future, I feel that I have a good understanding of how these instruments function, and look forward to using them in the future!
Participating in the field school was truly an experience like no other. Prior to this, my experience with archaeology was limited to reading textbooks and the occasional lab where we would handle artifacts, so naturally it was exciting to finally pick up a shovel and do some digging!
BcGn-17 and BcGn-15 were two drastically different yet fascinating sites where we found all manner of artifacts. While I had the chance to do some digging on BcGn-17, BcGn-15 was where I had the opportunity to excavate the midden area in OA4 from start to finish with my friend Matie. Despite our unit being half the size of the other 2×2 units on site, there was no shortage of artifacts to be found, and we took to calling many of the small pieces of metal “doohickeys”.
Our bin of artifacts and doohickeys!
One of my favourite finds from the OA4 midden was this key!
As opposed to the context-based system used on BcGn-17, here we worked with arbitrary levels based on depth, typically in intervals of 10cm. We mainly found a lot of glass, most of which seems to have come from various bottles and jars. There were also quite a few animal bones, including some from a cow! As we neared 40cm, the number of artifacts we were finding dwindled, and we found a large pile of rocks Kate and James said was likely a field clearance pile meant to make the surrounding area easier to farm. The stratigraphy also revealed what may be a looter’s pit!
Excavating OA4 definitely had its challenges, but we both learned a lot and listened to our fair share of Les Misérables along the way! Due to the high density of artifacts in the midden, Matie and I had to use trowels rather than shovels to excavate, and learned quite a few tricks from Kate to remain efficient. One of the more unexpected and fun challenges we faced was finding a place to sit amongst the intact glass bottles, rusted nails, and ceramics scattered around the midden. The solution? Remove a massive rock from your unit and repurpose it as a bench!
Getting in and out of OA4 was sometimes a challenge with all these trees, especially when you’re carrying a bucket of dirt to screen!
What surprised me the most about the field school was how much I loved doing survey. On day one, James taught a handful of us (soon to be known as the Rats) the basics of setting up survey equipment to record a simulated artifact scatter. While Asha, Matie, and I certainly had our struggles with leveling the theodolite and setting up our rather temperamental tripod, we eventually prevailed and got to setting up our datum (affectionately named Rat Boy 3).
Our theodolite and beloved datum, Rat Boy 3.
I helped Matie line up the stadia rod with our grid while Asha operated the theodolite.
Over the next few days, we worked towards setting up test units with stakes and gathering data to eventually make a map of the area. James gave us a quick tutorial on creating maps by hand during one of our rainy days, and it turns out that plotting out the data can be quite relaxing!
My map of the artifact scatter, showing our test units and the find spots James placed down for us.
Even after we finished our maps and started to excavate, it seems myself and Jordan couldn’t get enough of surveying, and we teamed up with Zenya to learn how to use a total station, who we named Willhelm. Willhelm could do a lot of cool tricks that simplified the process of gathering data here. With the theodolite, we had to convert our angles recorded in degrees, minutes, and seconds into UTM coordinates, whereas Willhelm would give us the northings and eastings immediately!
Zenya and Willhelm out in the field!
After Matie and I finished up OA4 at BcGn-15, Asha and Zenya joined us to record the coordinates of some of the units on site for James to use later in QGIS. Here we learned how to use a backsight, as the trees made shooting the laser into the prism very challenging, and moving Willhelm around was necessary to collect our data. We took turns climbing over fallen trees and pulling branches out of the way, and after no shortage of breaking branches, we had finished and could move on to plotting out the location of the units on mylar paper.
Matie getting ready to pull some branches out of the way.
After much practice over the last few weeks, we were able to level Willhelm in only a few minutes!
Asha and I took turns aiming Willhelm at the prism held by Zenya while Matie pulled trees out of the way.
It’s crazy how fast four weeks goes by, it feels like only yesterday we started work on BcGn-17. Even so I’ve learned so many new skills and found an unexpected passion for surveying along the way. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the project and work alongside so many wonderful people!
