March 19, 2009
The Johnston site had been used for previous field schools, so we really knew where to dig. We went in right on top of the village.
A backhoe had taken off the first bit of earth, so we didn’t have to start from the surface. With Dividing Ridge—which was home to the Monongahela culture of American Indians—we’re starting from scratch. So there’s a lot of mapping, a lot of guesswork. I found one itty, bitty shell, which could suggest trading with other villages; a few fire-cracked rocks; an unfinished projectile point; and some flakes—the shavings from making projectile points. Yes, it’s their trash, but not to us.
Our biggest find is what we think is a stockade. Comparing three different types of maps—one using electric resistivity, one using magnetometry, and one using the GPR—we found the same image in the same square in the exact same spot in the field, which has to represent something. Matching all of these maps and getting the same image is pretty cool. That’s probably the most rewarding thing.
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