News and Public Dig

Most archaeological digs get local media attention at one point or another. We were no exception, and it was fun to have newspaper and radio coverage. See the video and photos at: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2667108#

We went one step further, however, and invited the public to participate. One of the local farmers had harvested his wheat, and cleared the stubble for us to set up a 10m x 10m survey location. People came to look for artifacts in the plowed field, and connect with local history. The property had been occupied between 1850 and 1970, and was littered with 20th-century artifacts.

There was also a free BBQ at the museum, and I gave a public talk on our results, showing some of the more interesting artifacts found to date. All in all, it was an excellent public relations event for the museum, highlighting the importance of black heritage.

When Things Heat Up

Luckily the weather has now broken, but we were working in rather hot and potentially dangerous conditions: 101° with 55% humidity.

It is common for people to think, "it's just hot." They do not wear a hat, they choose to wear clothing that leaves skin exposed, and they invariably do not drink enough.

Last week, we were working in the upper orange zone on this chart. Red signals the potential danger of heat stroke, whereas orange marks the danger of sun stroke and heat exhaustion. What is the difference? Potential death, for one. Heat stroke should not be messed with. It is potentially life threatening!

When suffering from these conditions, body temperature rises above tolerable limits. With heat stroke, it rises to the point where serious consequences can occur.

To avoid heat stroke, sun stroke, and heat exhaustion in such conditions: (1) elect to stop working and get out of the heat, (2) do things less strenuous if remaining in the heat, and (3) wear a hat when outside and drink plenty of water, even if not apparently thirsty, to stay hydrated. For a medical guide on how to prevent heat stroke, visit: http://www.medicinenet.com/heat_stroke/article.htm.

If you were on an excavation in Greece, or the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile, or anywhere where hot conditions are common, and you refused to wear a hat, cover skin, and drink water on a regular basis throughout the day, you would be put on a plane and sent home.

Google (Earth) Me Up!

Had Marc Bloch only had Google Earth a century ago! (This is the same Marc Bloch who laid the foundation for French social history, and who was shot by the Gestapo during WWII). What Bloch noted was that the 20th-century arrangement of farms in France mirrored the layout of feudal times. Change happens slowly in rural landscapes.

Buxton's present-day farm layout reflects (not surprisingly) how the community was first laid out into 50 acre lots. The distance between major roads N-S and E-W encompasses 600 acres, or twelve 50-acre farms.

Google Earth can help us a great deal today, as we re-survey the area. Each lot can be easily identified, as can its modern condition. Ground inspection can confirm the location of sites. Along with surface collection on farms, which we have done now in several test cases, the debris scatter on the fields can be used to pinpoint the location of a past site (primarily its trash area). Along with GPS, which is accurate up to 3 meters in Buxton, it is possible to be fairly precise about site locations.

Of course, without Google Earth, aerial photography performs the same function, and did during the time of Marc Bloch. But it is now much easier to examine these kinds of data.

A Shot in the Dark

Many people often ask, "how deep do you have to dig" and "how do you know how old things are now." The truth of the matter is that these things vary. Sometimes you don't have to dig very far at all, and sometimes you haven't got a clue about the time period.

So, archaeologists are always looking at bits of everything to try to figure out "time" and "space." It means that you have to have odd bits of knowledge from time to time.

Digging at the Colbert-Henderson house site is just one of those examples. In a 1m x 1m pit, down at about 20 cm, we uncovered the Smith & Wesson 32 caliber cartridge seen here. It is one of the more datable finds.

Immediately we know that we are post-1856, which is the year that Smith & Wesson manufactured the world's first metallic cartridge. But there are other clues here as well.

The cartridge is a 32 caliber. If we look up information online, we find that Smith & Wesson introduced a 32 caliber pistol around the time of the Civil War. But that gun was rim fire, whereas our shell casing in center fire. We note that the Montgomery Ward catalog of 1895 lists a H. & R. Premier double-action, self-cocking revolver for $4.00. That pistol is listed as using S&W 32 center-fire ammo.

So, for the moment, until we might be able to nail things down a touch better, it seems that we are around the end of the 19th century, at the earliest, when we are 20 cm down at the site. This seems to fit well with other clues from bottles as well, and gives us "a shot in the dark."