The edge of a large soil disturbance has been eluding us all week. We have not been able to define the outline of the disturbance after a whole week of digging. The possible structure stretches beyond the walls of our excavation. Our field supervisors appear greatly disturbed by this fact because we have an idea of the structure that we are looking for and it is not this big. At this point we are left wondering what are we looking at and questions soon arise as to how to attack the problem at hand.
A previous test excavation left a large fill in the middle of our excavation. This unit could provide an answer to our question of what we are looking at. By digging through the fill of the previous excavated unit, the walls can reveal a profile of the soil. This will be able to give us a clearer picture of the stratigraphy of the soil in the site. We will be able to quickly discern whether or not what we are looking at is indeed the subsoil or perhaps something else. However, digging out the test pit would also leave a large, unattractive hole right in the middle of the excavation.
There are many experiences that I will walk away with from this field school. I will remember the friends I’ve made. The landscape and weather that I have encountered is almost alien to a native of south Florida. I have also been privileged to a wealth of experience and technique associated with a historical excavation. Yet the one that sticks out the most is that an excavation is very representative of one’s work. Neatness, even though we are “digging” in the dirt, does count. The importance of preserving a tidy unit cannot be overemphasized. The only way of digging is by maintaining the walls and floors of one’s unit with a clean crisp edge. Without it we could easily overlook what we are purposefully digging for. Hence, digging a great big hole out in the middle of our excavation would jeopardize the neatness and appearance of our excavation so aggressively guarded.
Even though a great big hole in the middle of our excavation would destroy the orderliness, the decision was made to dig it out in order to find out what lies beneath. The profile reveals that we were in fact still digging above the subsoil. What we mistook as transition into an undisturbed layer is actually still inside the plowzone. The evidence that we are looking for still lies beneath the plowzone above it. We begin to dig deeper throughout the excavation until reaching the subsoil and the evidence of activity that we are looking for. Yet our greater finds will not be revealed to us until we continue to work into the next week.
---Daniel Balseiro |
