UWM Field School Week 5

 "Make it work" - a quote from fashion expert Tim Gunn and the motto of the field school for this week. Due to the poor air quality from Canadian wildfires, students were out of the field for several days. Fortunately, archaeological work never ends, and students had the opportunity to learn how to wash and sort artifacts at UWM and visit the Hoard Museum. When it was safe to be in the field, students continued excavating features. 


Figure 1. The week started out strong with cupcakes from Maria Innis' talented mother. Note the little handmade screens!


Figure 2. Elsie Touchstone, Bryce Hansen, Gil Amador, Rachel Stewart, and Sydney Davis 'excavate' the cupcakes. 


Figure 3. Elsie Touchstone and Cat Vankammen carefully 'pedestal' pottery. Pedestalling involves removing most extraneous dirt from the artifacts but leaving them in situ for photographing and mapping. They will later be collected. 


Figure 4. Ian Auger enjoys Fort Atkinson's Hoard Museum. 


Figure 5. Back in the field! When excavating features, they are bisected or divided along a north/south or east/west axis. This allows archaeologists to see the profile of the feature. 


Figure 6. Sydney Davis in front of a bisected pit feature. 


Figure 7. In the foreground, Bryce Hansen and Tim Piatek dig out an eastern expansion revealing what is likely to be a large structure. In the back left corner, Madison Baynes excavates a pit feature, while on the right, Gil Amador works on a wall trench. 

Artifact Round-Up! 


Figure 8. Ava Wolcott holds a rim sherd. 


Figure 9. A potential anvil. Though different than what we picture with a blacksmith's anvil, the stone anvil operates similarly. A nodule is held on the anvil and struck with a hammerstone. 


Figure 10. Anna-Sophia Tsiolis and Jackson King are happy to have excavated the large piece of pottery. It was found on Monday and out of the ground on Friday. 

Creature Feature 


Figure 11. Sydney Davis with a local butterfly. 


Figure 12. Cat Vankammen found a froggy friend. 



 




















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