It was an exciting day for the excavation team. The photo above shows Hand Pestle #1 (right), which we found several weeks ago, and Hand Pestle #2, which was found today by our youngest excavator. Actually, he found half of the pestle (it had been broken in two). We found the other half several hours later. I am quite certain that it is a pestle, given the distinctive indentations on either side, the pocked surface of its narrowest point, and the way it feels in my hand. Of course, I am not an expert on stone tools and in fact, Hand Pestle #1 is the first hand pestle I had ever seen - but I just have a feeling about it!Here's another picture of the Pestle #2, showing the break:
For those of you keeping track, Hand Pestle #1 was found in Feature 1 (a.k.a. the Dry Well a.k.a. the Dump a.k.a. What Is It?!) while Hand Pestle #2 was found in Feature 4 (a.k.a. STP 3 wall extension).
The find below, made by Laurie in Feature 1, is the largest piece of painted plaster we've found. Like the hand pestle, it's broken into two pieces, but they fit together (and unlike the hand pestle, they were found side by side).
The paint is easier to see on this piece of plaster (below), also unearthed by Laurie. All in all I think she dug up about 3 pounds of painted plaster today, more than doubling what we had already had. While most of the pieces seemed to show different layers of a single color (pink over blue over orange, etc.) one or two had a clear design on it. All of the pieces are currently being treated in my high-tech conservation lab (i.e. they're being air-dried in a box in our spare room).
Today was also exciting because we received a visit from the press. Journalist Ned and photographer Joe came by and asked us questions about the dig. Here's Ned talking with Susan in Feature 1:
And here I am showing him some artifacts. He especially liked the belt buckle. Hopefully I did a good job representing the group. Some very valuable members of our group couldn't be there (it is Monday, after all), which was too bad! I am not the most eloquent speaker but I'm extremely proud of our work and have great affection for this site, which I hope comes across in the article.
Luckily, a lot of very valuable members of our group did make it and worked hard in spite of the cold (which was not so bad today). Laurie, Susan, and Tricia took on the challenge of contorting themselves between the boulders of Feature 1 to dig, while Gretchen recorded.
Gretchen also helped with screening, but I have to admit I like this picture mostly because of her hat! I've made similar cable and bobble hats and was wondering if I knew the pattern. And speaking of screening, I thought it was hilarious that every bucket of dirt we screened all day was full of artifacts ... except when the journalists were here. During that time the artifacts completely stopped coming. My narration could have been, "And this is the shaker screen, where we play with rocks and worms." Oh well!
Some non-archaeological members of the team were there too, like Hans, who took care of some of the millions of leaves that have been flying into the units nonstop ...
... and the Cornells, who are repairing stones. Here's Charles Haight's stone in the process of its repair ...
... and here's Isaac Lounsbury's. I'm really looking forward to seeing how these stones come out. The results so far have been amazing.
Here's one last shot of the cemetery to end the post. I can't believe that we're almost done for the season. The two big trees we've been enjoying for weeks have lost all of their leaves! Before we know it the whole place will be covered in snow.
Good luck with the article. My experience of local journalists is that they tend to be a bit creative with what’s said to them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was the youngest cadet at Dartmouth College, a local reporter asked my mother whether it was the culmination of a long-held ambition. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It was all rather sudden, actually.’ The reporter wrote:
‘His mother, Mrs Irene Beazley, said: “Jeffrey has always wanted to go to sea. Now he’s really realising his ambition.”’
And a couple of years ago I spoke to a local hack about some UFO sightings in the area. She asked me what I did. ‘Nothing much, but you can call me a writer if you like. I spend more time doing that than anything else.’ She subsequently referred to me as ‘Roston novelist, JJ Beazley.’ And the words she put in my mouth were a lot clumsier than the words which actually came out of them. That was the bit I really disliked.
Still…
It would be nice to see a picture of the cemetery in its winter coat, just for old time’s sake. I’ve greatly enjoyed your journal.