During each of our MTSU field school courses, we offer the opportunity for interested volunteers to participate in our project as the public outreach and community service aspect. Today was our first "Volunteer Day" for 2006. Seven students gave up their Saturday to work with these volunteers -- and in many instances to learn from them as well. While some of our volunteers were trying their hand at archaeology for the first time, most have been volunteers on many professional archaeological projects across the United States (and the world in some cases!). Volunteers today included a number of membgers of the Middle Cumberland Archaeological Society -- an organization that has been a partner with MTSU for many years now.
Our thanks to our volunteers today: Georgia Dennis, Ellis Durham, Elaine Hackerman, Paul and Dahlia Newton, and Judy Shook.
With the help of highly experienced volunteers and dedicated students, we made some substantial progress today. Below, Ellis Durham -- one of our most skilled and dedicated volunteers -- works with student Alex Bird to clean up one of our western excavation units. Ellis has volunteered on just about every MTSU field school since 1995.
In this area, as we excavated down into Level 5 (40-50 cm below the current ground surface) we discovered some very intriguing linear soil stains that could turn out to be the narrow trenches excavated for wall trench houses. In the photo below, one of these linear soil stains is shown during the process of cleanup.
As the day proceeded, these soil stains became a bit more clearly defined, but many of them still remain difficult to interpret in the tiny "window" that we've opened up into this site. Archaeology is in some ways like working a jigsaw puzzle -- but in our case, we have to find enough of the pieces before we can start putting them together. And, unfortunately, we don't have the picture on the box top to help us along! At the close of the day, however, we are optimistic that we MAY have discovered part of the ditch for the palisade surrounding this ancient town. While we'll have to investigate this further next week and the weeks afterward to confirm our suspicions, the stain outlined in the photograph below holds strong promise. It seems to line up with a similar segment of trench discovered about 20 meters to our south when the waterline was replaced along US 25 in 2004. Thanks to the records of the archaeologists who conducted that project, we are able to match up our discovery with what they found almost two years ago.
To the east, we closed out two of our excavation units -- having reached undisturbed "subsoil" without any signs of postholes, pits, or other cultural features. These two crews will move several meters to the north on Monday to open new excavation units.
In the other two eastern excavation units, however, we hit some promising features. Below, volunteers Georgia Dennis and Judy Shook work with Beth and Brandy.
The photograph below shows a small linear concentration of charred wood named with the unprepossing title of "Feature 3." When we identify interesting stains or concentration such as this one, we assign them numbers and then sketch them and photograph them before excavating them further.
Unfortunately, this concentration turned out to be a rodent burrow filled with charcoal. Fortunately, however, it was a clue to what turned up beneath it -- a large posthole filled with charred wood (possibly a post burned in place -- although we'll have to wait until next week to confirm that). The mouse or other rodent had burrowed through the posthole and the charred wood had later filled up the burrow that was just barely on top of the posthole.
In these two units, we'll continue excavation looking for other postholes and features that might be related to this recent discovery. But that will have to wait until next week. The crew and project staff are taking a well deserved break on Sunday! Check back with us next week!