As several of us noted today -- you couldn't really ask for a better day for archaeology than today. Not too hot, not too humid, a nice breeze, and plenty of drifting clouds.
We continued work today on so many different features and areas that we'll save the "blow by blow" for the summary on Thursday.
We did have some rather spectacular archaeological discoveries today -- two small pits packed full of carbonized corn cobs, husks, and stalks. While not perhaps the golden treasure that most folks would think archaeologists are looking for -- these items are truly treasures from the past. These rare types of preserved samples of ancient corn will allow us to study the varieties of corn, estimate productivity, and many other aspects of daily life from A.D. 1200.
The closeup below shows several of the cob segments.
The small pit feature show below shows dozens of small cobs filling the pit.
Although these remains were fragile after sitting in the ground for 800 years -- we managed to retrieve dozens of whole cobs through a painstaking all-day excavation.
As our project begins to wind down, much of our remaining time will be taken up in excavations, recording and documenting our finds -- including many dozens of photographs like that shown below.
More news on Tuesday...