Wednesday February 11, 2009

We were on the road again at 7 this morning. I found out that the closest "town" to where we are working is Ellaville. We spent the morning finished up this parcel of land and then we had to go back and dig on either side of all of our positive shovel tests (where we found artifacts). Thadra took the Trimble which is a portable GPS mapping unit (fits in a backpack with a large antenna) and got readings on all of our shovel sites - until the batteries ran out. Jeff and I worked together today and Carla and Dave made up the other team. Dave was the winner today as he found 2 arrow flakes on the morning site and another one on the afternoon site. We stopped for lunch after we finished with the first parcel and then moved over to the second parcel which was not too far away. Before we moved the van, we stopped and took a photo of the no trespassing sign which we will post tomorrow. The new parcel is very large and we just made a dent in it today, but will not be able to finish tomorrow. Jeff and I pair up again as did Dave and Carla. Thadra sighted the line for us using a compass as our side goes through the woods. It was very helpful for us to go a shovel test that had already been flagged. Dave and Carla had the advantage of having a fence line to follow on their side. Jeff was on a tear this afternoon and we dug 11 shovel tests this afternoon. Dave and Carla only dug 8, but they had to map out their own sites and they also had to slow down when they found the flake. They also found an armadillo skeleton which they bagged to bring back to the lab - that is one of the things that they don't have in the lab for comparison. I am major league bushed - I could hardly raise my arms to wash my hair in the shower! We all met back at the car at 5 - dirty, scratched and blistered, but feeling good that we had made a dent in this parcel. We will continue tomorrow, but will quit earlier as we will have to drive back to Tallahassee. Dave and I walked next door and had breakfast for dinner at Huddle House. The waitress was cute - a freshman at the local community college who is also in the National Guard. We will watch a bit of TV tonight to relax and then will read and sleep.