Last day of field school! : ) :

 



Today was our last official day of the field school, and at least for me, it is a little bittersweet. Over the last six weeks, all twenty-four of you have become competent field archaeologists who can conduct both survey and excavation, accurately map an area using either pencil and paper or with a Total Station, and interpret past cultural activities based on the artifacts they left behind. I have been honored to be a part of your learning journeys, and as you all continue on into whatever adventure awaits, I can only hope that you've found this a valuable experience.


Speaking of what you've found, we uncovered around a dozen storage/trash pits of various sizes, half of which were excavated.


These pits contained a fair bit of charcoal and burnt sandstone, the occasional lithics, and some really impressive sherds of pottery, such as the one above from Feature 82.


Other than pits, we have found 120 postholes (by my best count, anyway), comprising at least two distinct structures, several rebuilds, and a couple potential large center posts related to community activity. For one of these structures, we located all four sides and corners, complete with a possible doorway, a hearth, and what we think may be a house floor! This is certainly a first for the site of Koshkonong Creek Village, and may be fairly unique in the region more broadly!


All in all, every single one of you should be incredibly proud of yourselves and your team, for such fantastic work over the last several weeks! Rick, Sean, and I certainly are. I hope to see many of you around, both during the coming semesters and, should you continue with archaeology, for much longer than that! Signing off for the last time with one more weekly highlight reel, and a final reminder: 

                Everyone be drinking WAAAAAA-TERRRRRR!







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