Alicia Hernandez's Field Blog

Week 1: September 13, 2010

This week's class time began by orienting students to the aims and goals of the course as well as the archaeological site. While in the classroom we were given background information on the history of the archaeological sit which consists of the John Brown House, the Hale-Ives house (which previously stood on the same plot of land as the John Brown House, but was located along benefit st.) and the property in general. We were able to view multiple maps of the areas as well as presented with some of the information that was discovered in previous field seasons. After leaving the classroom we went over the the John Brown House and were given a site orientation by Krysta. Shortly after the site orientation the majority of the students measured out and laid new units for this seasons digging. While the new units were being measured I, along with three other students, removed backfill from unit 7. Unit 7 was excavated in previous years and has a structural feature that little to no information is know about. I'm looking forward to continuing excavation on the area around unit 7.

Week 2: September 20, 2010

Today after meeting at the carriage house and gathering all of the tools we headed over to the John Brown House to begin excavating. Numbers were given to each of the three new units for this seasons dig. Unit 10 is located ner benefit street and is near the former location of the Robert Ives house. Unit 11 is an extension of the previous field seasons Unit 7. Unit 12 is the possible site of the fountain that was viewed in the aerial photographs. Once the units were numbered, photographs were taken to show their beginning state. Units 10 and 12 began removing the top layer of soil directly after photographs were taken at the beginning of class. At Unit 11 we continued to remove backfill until we completely uncovered unit 7. Once the backfill was removed and the tard taken off we were able to view the wall that the previous season uncovered.

At that point we were able to lay out unit 11 as unit 10 and 12 had done the previous week. We decided to extend the southern portion of unit 7 and the southwest corner. We decided this through the use of the previous years field reports as well as information from Krysta which suggested that there was more rubble and possible artifacts located on this portion of the unit. With the extensions we placed we will be able to continue excavating the wall as well as begin to look into what may have been on the southwestern side of the wall. After laying out the unit we took photographs and began excavating. We began removing the top layer of soil which had a substantial amount of roots that needed to be cut out, and we found our first artifact which was a rusty beer cap.

Week 3: September 27, 2010

Instead of meeting at JBH this week to dig we started class at the Rhode Island Historical Society. We were given membership cards for the semester and got a tour of the building and instructions as to the best way to begin searching for information on the JBH. After our orientation tour the staff showed us some examples of various types of materials that we will be able to work with during our research. There were examples of everything from original letters written by members of the brown family to maps and books. The wide variety of historical information will be very helpful when it comes time to begin researching for the final projects.

After our tour of the RIHS we went over to the JBH for a tour. The staff was very knowledgeable about the vast collections at the house. The house and the amount of artifacts inside was surprisingly large. The house seems much larger from the inside and the wide array of artifacts is daunting. It was fascinating to see items that were kept and collected by the family and that we may encounter on our dig.

This week was very informative. I'm excited to continue digging next week now that I have a better understanding of the individuals who owned the property and the historical background of the dig site.

Week 4: October 4, 2010

This week after a brief encounter with the skunk that has taken up residence in the shed, we resumed digging where we left off in week 2. After digging for a short period of time in unit 11 we began to notice an increse in gravel in the northwestern corner of the unit. We discussed the possibility that this gravely soil could be a new context, at which point we needed to determine the extent of the gravel to ensure that it was a new context. We proceeded to evenly dig the rest of the unit (which was made difficult by a large amounts of roots in the soil) and found that the gravel extended throughout the entirety of the unit. At this point we began to prepare the unit for new context paperwork and photographs. There were still many roots that had to be taken out for the photo including a few rather large ones that required the use of the root saw. By the end of the day we had cleared the unit of roots, swept out the footprints, evenly dug the walls of the unit and prepared it for a photo. We were able to begin a new context sheet, took the beginning elevations (which unfortunately have to be retaken next week because the elevation string was stuck under the orange tape outlining the unit and thus skewed the elevation results), and documented the new context with a photograph.

During our dig this week we found a few new artifacts. We found another piece to a solo cup, a few pieces of ceramics (each of a different type and color), and a nail in the unit.

Week 5: October 18, 2010

We began this weeks class by going to each of the units and getting an update on their progress and recent finds. After all the units had been updated we returned to unit 11 to pick up where we left off on week 4. We remeasured our elevation from the previous week and used the munsell chart to compare soil colors. Shortly after all the paperwork was updated we began digging. After only a short time we began to notice a change in the soil in various areas of the unit as well as the presence of many large stones that seemed to run parallel to the wall found in unit 7. We continued to dig and found a second wall that runs parallel to the wall found in unti 7 (which of course we were very excited about). Once we uncovered the wall we attempted to find the extent of it within the unit and began to even out the remaining areas. Upon doing this we noticed that there were distincly different soil type popping up around the unit. On the western side of the new wall there was darker soil that had fewer inclusions and between the two portions of wall there is a mixture of an orange soil and a lighter brown soil that has many inclusions, the two walls also constitute their own contexts, and there is a small patch of darker soil on the eastern portion of the first wall. These each have the potential to be new contexts, which would mean that we have five new contexts to document and uncover next week when we can finish evening out the rest of the unit and determine their exact parameters.

Week 6: October 25, 2010

Before jumping into digging this week we discussed final project assignments and it was decided that in the interest of maximizing excavation time we would skip section in favor of extending digging time. After discussing projects, and critical response papers we then walked to each unit for an update on their current progress. After the updates we continued our excavations where we left off on Saturday during parents weekend.

During the dig on Saturday we determined the parameters of the new contexts and made a few interesting finds, the most exciting of which was the discovery of tiles in the southern portion of the unit. The tiles were still attached and held together with mortar and were located amongst a large amount of disarticulated tiles that continued to appear between the two walls.At the end of digging on Saturday we realized that we had three new contexts that had been exposed which is where we started on Monday. . .with the paperwork.

We documented each of the new contexts. The first was the context to the west of the second wall (now known as feature 4), it contained very few inclusion and was a dark soil. Because there were few obstuctions and the context seemed to be strictly soil we decided that in the interest of excavating as much as possible we would attack this context with a shovel for the day.

The second new context was the wall itself that runs from the northwest corner of the unit to the center of the southern portion of the unit. The portion of the wall that is exposed has many large slate rock as well as a large chunk of mortar near the center. Our task for this context was to expose it as much as posible, so our appraoch was a little more careful than it was for the western context, and it mainly entailed using trowels and brushes.

The last context documented for the day was located between the two parallel walls and was the most interesting and confusing of the new contexts. The soil in this context was mottled and had a brown coupled with a lighter orage soil. This context has a large amount of inclusions, many of which ar disarticulated tiles. Our approach for this context was more careful with the use of trowels, which proved to be the best method when the most confusing portion of the unit was found. Krysta was excavating the south eastern portion of the unit near where the tiles had been found on Saturday and amid her excavations she uncovered a large hole that is roughly 6 inches deep. The hole added to our confusion as to what was originally located in the unit. Hopefully during next weeks excavations we can make some clarifying finds.

Week 7: November 1, 2010

Due to the fact that we are nearing the end of our excavation days the main goal for the day was to get as much done as quickly as possible. Since context 70 was already at a much lower depth than the other contexts and was not producing any artifacts we decided to focus our attention on context 72 (though we did continue to expose the small area to the east of feature 2). We proceded to trowel the area and found large stones and pieces of brick along with many more tiles and nails. In the south eastern portion of the unit there we found more holes locatd closely to where the original had been found. We also discovered that there are two distinct types of tile that are appearing throughout the context. The first type to emerge was more white and chalky in composition while the second had a gray tint, was smoother and more marble like in composition. At the end of the day context 72 had reached the bottom level excavated in unit 7 last season, at which point we decided to take a few photos and start removing some of the larger stones as well as the intact tiles.

Week 8: November 8, 2010

This week we began digging earlier in the day in an effort to increase the amount of digging before sunset. The weather hindered more than it helped in our excavations this week. We continued to rapidly excavate context 70 with a shovel and have yet to find substantial artifacts in the area with the exception of two pieces of small pottery found this week. Context 72 is the area of the unit that proves to be more confusing as time progresses. In the south east portion of the context we continued to remove larger stones and exposed more holes that seem to continue to the south of the unit. Upon removing a large stone from the area we took a soil sample for further analysis. Hopefully the soil sample will lead to more answers about the area because the artifacts are only provoking more questions. The most confusing find of the day were two large pieces of mortar that had tile attated to the top. Two of these were found one in the northern part of context 72 and another in the south easter portion of the context. Each of these two were found lying face down which. The thickness of the mortar suggests that the pieces had to be floor since they are far to thick to have been put onto a wall, but the pieces were face down indicating that they were not the floor to the context. They may have been a floor located somewhere in the house or in an outbuilding that has subsequently been removed and thrown into the wall for fill, but the parallel walls are to thick to have been a single wall. There was also a downfall of brick to the western side of the wall from unit 7. The unit continues to provoke more questions that it provides answers, hopefully there will be more answers with the processing of artifacts in the coming weeks.

Week 9: November 15, 2010

This was our final week working in unit 11. unfortunately we were unable to continue digging and instead began mapping the unit. Jenneth and I worked on mapping the features in the unit while Nick mapped out the stratigraphy on the western and southern walls of the unit. Jenneth and I mapped the features using tape measure set at zero in the southeastern corner of the unit. From that point I would measure the distance to particular points on the wall while Jenneth mapped them and proceeded to draw the various elements (Brick, Mortar, Stone) on the map. Unfortunately it was too dark and we were unable to map the western wall on Monday. (We did however, return on Friday to finish up the mapping of the second wall.) After finishing the mapping the entire class headed over to backfill unit 12. By the end of the day all of the units had been mapped and both unit 10 and 12 were backfilled.

Week 10: November 22, 2010

After finishing mapping the western wall of the unit Friday, it left only one thing to be done for this field season, backfilling. A tarp was set in place, to ensure that future field season would have access to the unit and hopefully be able to answer some of the questions that arose during this season and previous seasons. After the tarp was set the unit was backfilled and we went to the archaeology lab to continue processing our finds. After thoroughly cleaning and organizing our finds we chose three items for our artifact analysis. my artifacts are a large piece of mortared tile, a metal pipe, and a piece of plastic with tropicana written on it.