Remember that sandy matrix in the NE quad of Level 3? I kept digging it.
It was mostly more of the same. A lot of chert debitage, some occasional pottery fragments, bits of charcoal scattered around, that sort of thing. Then I noticed the edge of a fairly long piece of pottery sticking out from the NW quad. Robin told me to go ahead and dig it out carefully.
This pottery was very fragile. I gently gripped the side of it to see how thick it was so I could get an idea of how to best remove it, and a piece broke off in my fingers when I wasn't even pulling on it. I obviously couldn't use a trowel to dig it out because it's just not gentle enough for that kind of work. So I removed most of the soil from around the pottery with a popsicle stick, then used a dental pick and brush to reveal the surface of the fragment so I would know where it ended and the soil began.
The piece looked very large, like it was half a pot or something, while it was embedded in the soil. Once I got it out it turned out to be significantly smaller than that, but still unusually large for Native American pottery in this area.
After I finished removing that, I kept digging out the rest of the quad. Robin told us to arbitrarily end the level at 21in. so that Chris could have a turn to dig another quad. So level 3 ended up extending from 13-21 in. in our unit.
Chris started digging the SE quad next so that the whole E half of the unit could be down. We needed the whole E side down so that it would be roughly level with Dru and Sammy's unit (EU 16), so that both units would be roughly even when the wall between them was removed.
We had to leave a bit earlier than planned because rain was predicted to start, even though it ended up not falling.
It was mostly more of the same. A lot of chert debitage, some occasional pottery fragments, bits of charcoal scattered around, that sort of thing. Then I noticed the edge of a fairly long piece of pottery sticking out from the NW quad. Robin told me to go ahead and dig it out carefully.
This pottery was very fragile. I gently gripped the side of it to see how thick it was so I could get an idea of how to best remove it, and a piece broke off in my fingers when I wasn't even pulling on it. I obviously couldn't use a trowel to dig it out because it's just not gentle enough for that kind of work. So I removed most of the soil from around the pottery with a popsicle stick, then used a dental pick and brush to reveal the surface of the fragment so I would know where it ended and the soil began.
This is me trying to remove the pottery fragment and talk at the same time. Apparently I can only do one well at a time.
The piece looked very large, like it was half a pot or something, while it was embedded in the soil. Once I got it out it turned out to be significantly smaller than that, but still unusually large for Native American pottery in this area.
This is the pot fragment in all its radiant glory.
After I finished removing that, I kept digging out the rest of the quad. Robin told us to arbitrarily end the level at 21in. so that Chris could have a turn to dig another quad. So level 3 ended up extending from 13-21 in. in our unit.
Chris started digging the SE quad next so that the whole E half of the unit could be down. We needed the whole E side down so that it would be roughly level with Dru and Sammy's unit (EU 16), so that both units would be roughly even when the wall between them was removed.
We had to leave a bit earlier than planned because rain was predicted to start, even though it ended up not falling.
