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Archaeology of College Hill 2010 - Home
Schedule of classes and readings
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
[email protected]
Week 1: September 13, 2010
What a day! After a brief overview of the course in Salomon, the class walked to get our materials and headed to the John Brown House. After the site tour, I chose to be involved in unit 7, the "mysterious unit" that seems to have, among other things, a wall running through it. Much to my surprise, I actually started digging and actually got dirty today while shoveling through the backfill from last year. I am interested to finish the job next week, and I'm eager to see the unit in its full glory. While three other students and myself worked on the backfill, the other students laid out their future units. I know how difficult this can be from my dig this summer, andI comment their efforts! I can't wait for everyone to start digging and for the mysteries beneath the ground to arise. We chose to work in three areas: Unit 7 from last year, the area near the well, and the area of the former Ives house.
After taking Field Archaeology last semester and joining a dig this summer, I thought that I had enough basic dig skills. However, I'm glad to see that I still have much to learn; every dig is different. I already know that I enjoy field work, and I hope that I'll lean more about the John Brown House and its history this semester. It's sad that most students don't even know that the JBH even exists. I took a tour for another archaeology class that I had last semester, and the house is really quite interesting. I'm excited to be apart of the excavation.
Until next week! I can't wait to get my shovel again!
Week 2: September 20, 2010
After gathering our supplies, we finished backfilling unit 7, the "mysterious unit." After finishing backfilling and unearthing the wall, we determined that the best place to lay out our new unit is in the southwest corner. That's how unit 11 was born! We hope to find out more about the wall and the surrounding features. The unit is laid out in an L-shape connected to unit 7.
After laying out the unit, we took elevations of all four corners and determined the highest point. The highest point is then designated the datum point from now on. Then, we started digging in smooth, even layers. We found one artifact, a rusty beer cap. I then discovered another beer cap of the same type outside the unit, which probally means the cap is more modern than we previously thought.
All in all, this was a very exciting day at the site, and I cannot wait to go back next week!
Week 3: September 27, 2010
Instead of excavating this week, we visited the Rhode Island Historical Society and toured the John Brown House. As I have never been to the Rhode Island Historical Society, I was very excited. It was very interesting to see all of the different types of primary and secondary sources that the RIHS possesses. They had newspapers, books, letters, and journals, let alone maps and other interesting information available. I can't wait to return there to research my project for the end of the semester.
After the lecture about the RIHS, we toured the John Brown House. This was my second visit to the house, and I was glad to return there.