Today was awfully hot again with a few thunder showers in the afternoon that caused us to shut down early. The crew worked hard digging plowzone, troweling portions of the burned structures, and mapping. Things are moving smoothly as crew members are getting into the routine and becoming more skilled in the variety of tasks. We also began to set up the water-screening area in preparation for feature excavations.

Will and Caroline mapping unit N895E205.

After the square is mapped, we take elevations at the four corners.Kip reads the transit while Caroline holds the stadia rod.

Emily shows a ground stone disk.

Shoveling plowzone is the first step in each excavation unit. Here, Joseph throws dirt into the sifter and Lynn works it through the sifter screen. All materials left on the screen (1/4 in. mesh) are bagged and washed in the lab.

The view on the left shows the entire unit of N866E192. The dark soils on the left of the square and in the background represent the level of an original village living surface. The very dark oval is Feature 23. It is full of burned sands, charcoal, animal bones, and pottery as seen here.

We covered up the site when the rain hit but decided to hold a little competition - dirt-throwing for distance and accuracy. To stay in the competition, one has to keep throwing the shovel load of dirt into the wheelbarrow which is gradually moved backwards.Aaron and Paul show us their form.

Zoe sizes up the target and Scott gets good style points for a really high toss; unfortunately, he missed the wheelbarrow. In the end, it was Chris and Dave battling it out for the title. Dave won, though some complained that he was less than impartial as the judge .

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