Another Rain Day But No Museums

Today was once again rainy but unlike yesterday we had no museums to visit or any other interesting plans. Instead we spent the day washing the artifacts that we had dug up on Monday. To do so we simply filled bins or containers with water and put the artifacts in the water. We then scrubbed the artifacts with toothbrushes to thoroughly clean the artifacts so that they could then be processed later on.

Rain Day and Museum Trips

We had lots of rain today which prevented us from digging. Instead, we visited the Little League Museum in the morning and the Williamsport Historical Society and the Taber Museum afterwards.

The Little League Museum was a brand new facility with many interactive exhibits as well as an audio guide to the museum. The exhibits were thoroughly explained and well presented to the visitors. 

The Taber Museum and the Williamsport Historical Society was not as interactive or new, but it still was very informative and interesting. The museum covered the area's prehistory and history with many artifacts from every time period in the area. The Taber Museum also housed the Genealogy Society which we visited and learned about what they did and how they worked.

We ended the day by visiting the archeology lab in the basement of the Taber Museum where we got to see the finished products of other local archeology digs.

First Day at Glunk Site

Today was our first day of digging at the Glunk Site, 36LY0345, an American Indian site. It was cool and sunny today and we were able to start three new excavation units: EU16, EU17, and EU18. I dug in EU 17 with Elizabeth Jensen. Today's goal was to try and dig through our first level which we called at ten inches down. This first ten inches was a historic level that was composed of a clay matrix that was difficult to dig through and sift. We started off using a shovel to clear out this level but we also employed trowels (it was easier with the shovels though). In screening the dirt from the South West Quad I found mainly historic artifacts like brick pieces, glass, nails, and lots of stones.

By the time we had closed we had managed to excavate three quads in EU18 to the bottom of our first level,  three quads in EU17 to the bottom of our first level, and all four quads in EU16 to the bottom of the first level (10 inches). In EU17 (my pit) we have found no real significant artifacts, while we found a pitted hammer stone at the bottom of EU16.

Second Day at New Berlin

Today we are once again at New Berlin and plan to continue with some new test pits. We put in two new test pits right away, test pits 5 and 6. Test Pit 5 revealed what may be part of the footer and a fence post hole that would have been part of the fence which surrounded the property. Test Pit 6 revealed part of a flagstone pathway, which may have been in front of the fence. My main job today was to find and map the locations of all the fence post holes. In order to do so I dug in 6 to 7 foot intervals along the edge of the property following a line from the visible fence post bases and holes. I would measure off the distance with a tape measure and then poke around with a screw driver to find the concrete base which I would then uncover using a shovel. In total we put in five more test pits today with the final three uncovering nothing. We have dug a total of nine test pits at the site and recommend that ground penetrating radar be used to find the footer.

First Day at New Berlin

Today we started our project at the site of the first Evangelical Methodist Church in New Berlin, PA. We started off by mapping the site which sloped down towards Penn's Creek at the one end of the property. We then started two shovel test pits near the Water Street edge of the property with the hope of finding the footer of the original church from 1816.

Down by the creek we found a plaque dedicated to a goose named Lucy that had been rescued by local townspeople. Also, on the way to the restroom we saw a large helicopter outside the American Legion Post 957.

During the digging of the two test pits we found a large quantity of rocks in the second pit and a possible footer in both pits at .5 m down. In the second pit the possible footer started at 9 in. and went down to the bottom of the pit (.5 m) jutting out from the side of the test pit closest to the street.

We then put in two more test pits after encountering a sterile clay level. These two pits also revealed large stones that may have been part of the footer as well.