Unit Summaries

Units 6-9 and STP3 Your contribution to the field report will be to create a detailed synthesis of the excavations in your Unit. This should include a narrative summary of the excavations in chronological order, from start to finish. This summary doesn’t have to be purely descriptive, you should add interpretations into it, but the basic data must be present.

Unit summaries should include the following information: Discuss all of the contexts – noting especially those arbitrary contexts that can be combined to form natural stratigraphic levels. Discuss any notable features. For both contexts and features, include detailed information about soil quality, depths, and artifacts found within. In the lab, use diagnostic artifacts from each strata to calculate a mean date or TPQ date for the deposit (your classmates will assist with this during lab hours as well, so be sure to examine their notes too). From the synthesis of this information, can you suggest a sequence of deposition for this Unit? You will need to consult the excavation context sheets and logs, and will probably also find information posted in the class field blogs and excavation summaries useful (please cite these appropriately, of course).

Please use photos from the excavations and plan view drawings to illustrate your discussions (plan view drawings should be scanned and digitized – outlined in photoshop, for example). Do not include ALL photos of the unit or all plan drawings; try to incorporate those that best illustrate the important archaeological information in your Unit.

Finally, discuss in your summary how the findings correlated (or not) to the historical documents and geophyisical survey information that we consulted early in the semester. What are your recommendations for future excavations in this area?

Syllabus / 2008 Class Members and Field Blogs / Readings / Critical Responses / 2008 Excavation & Unit Summaries / Sample Field Forms / 2008 Images / References & Resources / 2008 Midterm Projects / 2008 Final Projects