Archaeological Dig: Week 4

The dig went quite well this week, despite the temperatures. I think that Tuesday will go down as the hottest day so far. We are fairly certain it was close to 100 degrees. My sunburn has finally turned into a tan and my shoulders are peeling from the severe burn of two weeks ago, I am keeping them covered until they heal.

I found some amazing items this week, I can't wait to share them with you!

Here is a picture of what we are finding most of: NAILS, lots and lots of nails of all shapes and sizes

House #2 (the one we are currently excavating) has more nails than anyone thought possible, even the lead archaeologists. We think that this house must have been completely disassembled before being moved and that the nails were simply discarded on the ground. We typically find nails within the first 1-3 cms.

My amazing find #1: A porcelain doll hand!

This is the first evidence we have that a little girl might have lived or visited the area!

Notice the thumb on the north side of the hand and the fingers are slightly chopped off.

My amazing find #2: (no picture) a woman's black garment button

I didn't get a picture of this before it was cataloged and carried off. It was just a simple black button, but it was so delicate and small that it was most assuredly a woman's button.

My amazing find #3: (no picture) a pocket knife

Again, this was so fragile and so rare, they carried it off before I got a chance to photograph it.

My amazing find #4: a door hinge

There is a group of historical architects who are working on recreating/restoring an Officer's House for display at Fort Yamhill (hopefully on top of the footprint/foundation of the original). This find will excite them because they will officially know what the door hinges looked like! No guessing needed!

Some other terrific finds this week (which I did not have anything to do with) are: a marble, a complete crystal goblet, several parts of an iron stove, an aqua colored bottle and some Navy items (which is super interesting since this was an Army post).

Archaeological Dig: Week 3

This week went slightly better than last. There were only a few unbearably hot days (despite the 6 day work week) and the physical demands are getting a little easier, although my body is rebelling in new and interesting ways. I think I have arthritis, that is the only explanation for how painful my hands and knees are right now.

Here is some information about the site and its history. Feel free to skip ahead to the pics, if you so desire. :-)

Fort Yamhill was built in 1856 and remained an active duty post until 1866. The Fort's main purpose was to oversee Native Americans living within the reservation area. This fort was not involved in the American Civil War due to Oregon declaring neutrality. The Army forces stationed at this fort were sent East upon the beginning of the war and it was staffed by volunteers from California thereafter. The full garrison stationed at Fort Yamhill consisted of 76 men under three officers and were commanded by William Babcock Hazen and at times by Philip Sheridan.

There were a number of buildings on the site including: a blockhouse, sentry box, barracks, officer's quarters (which we are excavating), carpenter's shop, hospital, kitchen, blacksmith shop, stables, and laundress quarters. Many of these have already been excavated and we are lucky enough to have the original fort plans so figuring out where to dig has been relatively easy. What was difficult for the archaeologists to determine was where the "first" building was. After that, it was relatively easy tracking down the rest.

There were three officers and therefore there should only be three officer's houses, however along "Officer's Row" the plans show 5 houses. Our goal this dig season is to find out what the other two houses were used for. At this point we haven't found anything to substantiate that women lived there, but it is our assertion that perhaps these were the quarters of wives/children/assistants/cooks of the officers. Time will tell...

The "pit" I worked on this week. It is fully excavated now, but I didn't get a photo. The major artifact finds include: nails, glass shards, lead shot and ceramic sherds.

One of our volunteers found this complete bottle underneath the foundation towards the back of the house.

It is a champagne bottle and all three houses that have been excavated up to this point have had a champagne bottle. One bottle is interesting, two bottles eliminates coincidence, three bottles is a pattern! But what is it?

The coolest find so far, an 1836 coin with a hole in it. We speculate since it pre-dates the time of the fort that it was worn as jewelry. Again, I didn't find this but I am waiting patiently for my major discovery!

Archaeological Dig: Week 2

Week 2 of the dig was grueling. It has been hot outside and we spend approximately 9 hours in the sun each day. Occasionally we will get a shade tent, but some people need them more than others, so there are times when our group gets zero shade each day. I am filthy, sunburned and physically exhausted. Right now, I am wondering how I could have made such a horrible mistake. :-\  Here's to hoping that next week goes much better!

The area underneath the shade tent structure is where my excavation area is

Pictured is my partner Krista. This photo was taken after we removed the top soil and sod.

Not too long in, we realized we had found foundation.

By the end of Thursday both groups (mine is in the back) had uncovered quite a bit of foundation. The only artifacts we have found are nails, so far.

By end of day Friday we had uncovered much more foundation and excavating the North side of the pit down to 10 cm. Next week we will continue digging out the North side another 10 cm looking for artifacts.

Archaeological Dig: Week 1

On Monday, after less than 12 hours home from Tucson, I arrived for my first day on the archaeological dig. Day 1 we toured Fort Yamhill, the site we will be excavating most this summer. Our concentration will be on "Officer's Row" where 3 officers lived along with their staff/help. We will specifically be looking for evidence of women at the site.

View from Officer's Row

On Day 2 we toured the sister site to Fort Yamhill, called Fort Hoskins. We won't be doing any work out there this year, but it is an excellent example of a contemporary fort. Many of the artifacts found here give us a better understanding of ones found at Fort Yamhill.

The small house is an actual officer's house which a family still lived in until recently.

On Day 3 we toured the second site we will be excavating this summer at Champoeg State Park. I didn't get a chance to photograph this location, so it will have to wait a few weeks until we get back out there.

Overall, I am tired. The dig should be an amazing experience but between the long hours commuting and the long days in the sun (in the high 80s and 90s), I am exhausted. Next week will only be worse but the bright side is that I am getting a wicked tan!

Tucson Trip

I just got home from visiting Tucson a few days ago. As I was moving all the pictures off my phone and camera I realized that I have a lot of pictures of food and some of the turtles...but no people. I apologize to my family and friends who I visited with that it was such a whirlwind trip that I couldn't get your photograph. :-(  I also apologize to those you I didn't get a chance to visit this time around, I was in town for a wedding and it was a little crazy!

Day 1: Eegees

Day 2: Breakfast with Dad

Day 3: Dinner at Macayos with Dad

Day 4: Chick fil a (because even vegetarians can't resist good chicken)

And BABIES!!!!!

Starbuck (a.k.a. Baby Daddy)

Bucket List: Mount Hood

Hubby and I have been wanting to go to Mount Hood (the tallest mountain in Oregon) since we moved here but the weather conditions were never right. It was either too rainy, too snowy or too icy for either of our vehicles to make it. However, summer time is the right time (and the off-season) so for his birthday we decided to make a trip up there and have a delicious meal.

Not beautiful weather and the summit was obscured by clouds

 Snow in June!!

I am such an Arizonan, I am still amazed by all the water in random places!