OT: Adventures in Archaeology: WEEK 2

[Theagenes]

Well the first archaeology thread got moved to the watercooler, so for all practical purposes killed. But since there were a number of people curious about what we are finding this week, I thought I'd start a new thread to give an update. This one may get moved too, but hopefully it will stick around long enough for those who are interested to check it out.

 

For those who missed last week's thread here is the link:

 

Adventures in Archaeology

 

To recap, I'm currently working on a dig in St. Croix where we are surveying a parcel of land for the Army National Guard, which will be the site of a multi-million dollar firing range in the near future. The parcel is on a small mountain (or large hill), which drops off to the ocean. This remote area was once home to a semi-permanent encampment of escaped slaves and so could potentially be a culturely sensitive area. The first week we spent digging shovel tests across the area at 20 meter intervals. We found few artifacts in our shovel tests, but as we were making our way through the vegetation and up the slope, we discovered a number of rock piles that we think may be cairns (i.e. rock tombs).

 

This week we continued with our shovel tests, finishing them up yesterday. Also, yesterday was when we had our encounter with the hornets, the result of which you can see in the other thread. I wasn't the only one that got stung. In fact we had to leave one shovel test undug as the hornets owned that area and we conceded defeat.

 

 

 

Yesterday we also found a new rock pile near the base of the hill. This one is unfortunately located exactly in the area where the firing range will be built. It did not appear as impressive as some of the others further up the hill and there were also remnants of a small stone and mortar structure nearby so we thought it may have been related to that instead of being a cairn.

 

 

 

In any case it would have to be excavated to make sure since it is right in the path of the bulldozers and so that was our task this morning. We began by photographing the pile and taking measurements (it was roughly 3m X 3m), then started removing stones.

 

 

 

We quickly found out that this rock pile was a vibrant little ecosystem filled with all sorts of critters including numerous lizards, scorpions and hermit crabs.

 

 

 

We were definitly taken aback by a large number of alien-looking mystery creatures that looked like a cross between an insect, an arachnid and a crustacean. Once we got back today a little internet research quickly informed us that these are Tailess Whipscorpions and are harmless:

 

 

 

We continued removing stones until we came to several with pieces of mortar, which suggested that in fact this was not a burial, but a rock pile associated with the later stone structure nearby. We continued excavating just to make sure and soon hit bedrock, confirming that there was no burial here. The army will no doubt be very pleased.

 

 

 

We next cleared off the stone and mortar structure nearby and we will excavate it tomorrow and see if we can get a date. It's probably a 19th century farm outbuilding or small cistern.

 

 

 

Tomorrow we will also excavate one of the "real" rock piles further up the hill. There are about seven of these and they have characteristics that are much more suggestive of rock Cairns. Their construction seems to be much less random and they have a much greater height. Also interesting is that a large baobob tree (also known as "Spirit Trees") is growing right in the center of them. The baobob is not indigenous, but was imported from Africa; it is typically planted in cemetaries and is quite out of place here on the side of this mountain. The rock piles in this area are far enough up the slope that the construction should not have an impact on them, so our plan is to carefully remove enough stones from one of the better ones to confirm whether or not there are human remains. We will not be removing them as there is no need to do so at the present time (not to mention it's a lot of paperwork). We might try to uncover them enough to determine whether or not they are Christian or African burials. Of course this might all turn out to be a coincidence with the baobob tree and they may be nothing more than piles of rocks. We'll find out tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

[MutantKeys]

What a weird looking spider

[jordanscott]

looks like you might be digging in an area with more recent habitation than you think. seems you uncovered a fairly recent tape measure in that last pic...!

 

seriously...cool stuff.

 

that tailless whipscorpion gives me the scratchies.

[valiantman]

that tailless whipscorpion gives me the scratchies.

 

That would be a pretty sweet mascot for a school.

Football helmets should have those on the side.

[DrWatson]

What a weird looking spider

tailless whipscorpion

[TupennyConan]

[CAMERANIAC]

It is unfortunate that all archaeological digs are not shared online, for everyone to see. It's very interesting.

 

Thanks alot. (thumbs u

[mjacobs8]

Thanks for the update!

[BrianR]

What a weird looking spider

 

We have those here in AZ if you pop a sewer manhole or stormsewer they turn up once in a while as well as scorpions. Pic doesn't do it justice, uglier in person

[Jeffro.]

Excellent! Looking forward to more

[Theagenes]

We started our last day of fieldwork by quickly excavating the small stone structure at the base of the hill. Very little was found in the way of datable artifacts, but it likely dates to the mid to late 19th century based on the style of construction. It's small and probably unimportant, but since it is in the area of impact we needed to try and find out as much as we could about it.

 

 

 

With that out of the way, we could move on to one of the more interesting rock piles farther up the slop. This one was larger and taller than the previously excavated one and it's the one closest to the baobab tree (which are often planted in cemetaries here in the islands).

 

 

 

We figured that this one was the most likely to be a cairn, and that if it did turn out to just be a pile of rocks then it would be safe to assume that the other half dozen were also just rock piles and not burials.

 

 

 

After photographing it and measuring it we started tossing rocks. As you can see we also thought it might be a good idea to tuck our pants legs into our socks to prevent scorpions from crawling up them.

 

 

 

Soon after we started, the two Army officers who were our liasons showed up to join in the fun.

 

 

 

After getting the larger stones out of the way we finally got down to ground level.

 

 

 

With a bit more clearing we discovered....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(wait for it)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTHING!

 

 

 

Nada. Zilch. Bedrock. Just a pile of rocks.

 

So after all this build-up, I'm left feeling a little bit like Geraldo in Al Capone's vault.

But, what can you do? - can't find the Holy Grail every time out.

 

And so that wraps up the field work for this project. The Army is now free to carry on with their firing range with no pesky cultural resources to have to manage. I got to see the islands for a couple of weeks and drink lots of rum. We even finished ahead of schedule so we we'll be leaving early. That costs me a few days of fat per diem (i.e. comic book money), but I'm ready to get home to the family anyway. Plus it'll save all you taxpayers a little money. (thumbs u

 

Hope everybody enjoyed this little peek inside the world of archaeology or at least found it mildy interesting (or if nothing else got a laugh out of my disgusting swollen eye).

Jeff

[TupennyConan]

Plus it'll save all you taxpayers a little money. (thumbs u

 

 

 

Hey money well spent!!

 

Loved this Jeff! Thanks!!

 

Now turn that per diem into comics, post em, & lets all get a two for the price of one good time out of your super cool career!!

[binarysunrise]

As you can see we also thought it might be a good idea to tuck our pants legs into our socks to prevent scorpions from crawling up them.

 

Scorpions. Right. But what's your excuse for tucking them in when you're back stateside?

[comicdonna]

I enjoyed the anticipation Jeff! I hope to see more threads about Archaeology in the future! (thumbs u

[Scrooge]

Am I the only one to wonder why the Army dudes were wearing gloves?

[BrianR]

When I worked with archeologists per diem was like the holy grail. While I went out and ate they brought can foods etc and a hot plate to cook with in the motel rooms and saved every dime. Is it the same for you and your team?

[Theagenes]

Am I the only one to wonder why the Army dudes were wearing gloves?

 

We did make fun of them a little bit for that.

 

Of couse, being locals maybe they knew something we didn't.

[Theagenes]

When I worked with archeologists per diem was like the holy grail. While I went out and ate they brought can foods etc and a hot plate to cook with in the motel rooms and saved every dime. Is it the same for you and your team?

 

Absolutely! A project like this is the closest thing I get to a Christmas bonus. We have been going out more than we would stateside, for obvious reasons, but I've still been eating a lot of frozen dinners the last two weeks. We always try to stay in motels with microwaves and fridges.