Week One Fun

Hello everyone, it's Katy again!

June 30th was the kickoff for our 2022 field school season. We began with two days of orientation which allowed all of us to become educated on the site and some of the techniques used on site. We also were able to become closer with each other and be able to find a working niche. Day two of orientation we worked on finding our pace, mapping and setting up coordinates for our units. In my group I learned that my pace for 15 meters was roughly 23 steps! After the holiday, it was time for the first day in the field! We got our pit partners and quickly set off to set up our units. My pit partner Cole and I are stationed at South 5 West 7 which is where we began to excavate. Day two in the field it was a forecast of rain, so we set off to The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana. Here we got to look at the collections donated from different families of the artifacts found at Fort St. Joseph by "treasure hunters". Some of my favorite artifacts in the boxes were the thimbles, the sewing scissor, and the bone beads made from duck and swan bones.

The exhibit within the museum was also interesting to visit due to the large amount of information learned within. I liked getting to look at the different person adornment artifacts, as those were my favorite. We also were able to get a tour of the mansion on the grounds. Within the mansion, all of the objects were originals which was really amazing to see. At the end of the day two we went back to the lab to learn how to properly clean the artifacts. I personally enjoy doing this as it is detail oriented and requires you to really pay attention to the artifact and the process. 

Day three we were able to head out to the field again! It was a beautiful day to excavate! All of our groups made great progress and made it down to 10 centimeters below datum or more by the end of the day. There were some artifact finds such as red ware pottery, 18th century glass, and animal bone in the majority of the units. It was extremely exciting to find artifacts, plus it increases the motivation to keep digging and find more! Dr. Nassaney was on site that day as well, providing us students with tips and tricks in the field, while also providing us with some future career tips. Day four was also held in the field. That day we set up the tents over the units and quickly got back to work. Our goal was to make it to roughly 15 centimeters below datum by the end of the day. All of us also began to wet screen the dirt we were digging up. In the wet screens a lot of us found lead shot in our units which was exciting! There were also white seed beads found in two units, along with a couple pieces of glass from wine bottles. It was a very eventful day!

Until next time,

Katy