We’ve reached the end of field school, and what did we learn? For my final post to the Campus Archaeology blogosphere, I want to go over a little bit of what my group (myself, Erin, and Max) found in the two pits we excavated, and what our findings may mean for future excavations in the area. I’ll also be writing a bit of my own analytical thoughts relating to our findings in the most recent pit we excavated, TP 6. Which as most people (namely Eddie Izzard) think, we make up. Hopefully these insights prove him wrong!
Test pit number one was coming to a close and Andrew, Valerie, and I were all waiting in anticipation to begin a new test unit. The area where we would move to is the site of the old student trash pit from College Hall. Last year, they set up a unit in the area and [...]
Archaeology can be hard on the patience in many ways. With a million and one ways to mess something up, dirt everywhere, and often not-so-ideal weather conditions, it isn’t the easiest afternoon activity. I’ve found one part in particular to be very hard to cope with. In a five week class full of learning how [...]
“Clink!” The heads of my fellow excavators, as if compasses magnetically drawn to possible artifacts, rotated towards the sound of my shovel striking something hard at the bottom of test pit 6. Assuming I had hit a large piece of cinder or just another hunk of brick, I lunged the shovel back into the soil, [...]
colorless glass straw pieces of white ware cow ribs pieces of clay pipe stem glazed brick pieces an old pull tab human hair a thick, dark green glass shard a broken test tube bottom an oil lamp burnt wood The items in the list above are just some of the things we of Test Pit [...]
My group’s first test pit, BW-N:TP 5, was lacking in the artifact department. Even after three levels all we had collected artifact-wise was brick and an assortment of glass pieces. Most archaeologists will tell you that a dig that doesn’t produce artifacts can still tell you everything you need to know, but they will also [...]
The other day, I heard Dr. Goldstein telling some of the students how she invited someone to come dig with us and how they declined and replied to her that they wanted to dig at a “real” excavation site. Many people do not realize that Michigan has a rich history as well as MSU’s campus. [...]
In the early stages of my group’s excavation of our unit we expected to find cultural objects from MSU’s past that had been tossed aside as garbage. The items we expected to find ranged from old construction material, to ornate ceramic, animal bone, and, of course, a plethora of broken glass. We did not, however, [...]
What if you’re excavating a site, and you find artifacts that seem somewhat fishy? What happens when you have a large imagination and there is nothing to do but postulate ideas of what each artifact tells you, no matter how strange? And what happens when, after digging for a week in one small two meter [...]
Let’s be honest. If all the information that you know about archaeology comes from what you have seen on TV or online, this thought would probably cross your mind if you saw archaeologists at work. Don’t be offended–I used to be like you, too! However, the fact of the matter is that archaeologists have virtually [...]
