MAY 5, 2007

From: Scott Beld
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 9:09 PM
To: Oxbow Archaeologists
Subject: Sias East - May 5, 2007

Hi Oxbow Archaeologists,

We made it out to the site on Saturday for the first day of excavations this year! We had a very good turn out. Marianne, Becky, Nik, Kevin, Dave, Greg, Chris, Conrad and I made it out (see MAP to see where we worked).

In the morning we excavated the 30-35 cm level of units 1N-107W and 1N-108W (see PHOTO 1). These units were disturbed by soil removal in the 1960s and we only found a few flakes in them. I photographed a level of Feature 5 that I didn’t get to last fall and excavated the 55-60 cm level of unit 2S-111W that contains part of Feature 5. Later in the morning and early in the afternoon, Dan and Greg excavated the 30-35 cm level of 0S-107W and Nik, Chris and Kevin excavated the 30-35 cm level of 0S-108W (see PHOTO 2). These two units contained lots of flakes, bone fragments, and fire cracked rock as well as a few bodysherds.

In the afternoon, Conrad excavated the 60-65 cm level of Feature 2 – NE ½. There wasn’t a lot in it and we are getting near the bottom. Chris excavated the 30-35 cm level of 0S-109W and the 35-40 cm level of 0S-107W; Greg excavated the 30-35 cm level of 0S-110W; and I excavated the 35-40 cm level of 0S-108W. There were lots of flakes and bone fragments in the 30-35 cm level but few in the 35-40 cm levels. It looks like the Middle Woodland occupations ends in the 30-35 cm level.

Greg found the most interesting artifact – a Middle Woodland rimsherd (see PHOTO 3). This rimsherd has two rather large deep punctations that produced bosses or nodes on the interior. There is rather interesting decoration at the lip made with a dentate tool. It looks like the potter might have been trying to use a rather short (5-6 tooth) dentate tool to do “rocker stamping.” The interior surface has striations from this tool that were made prior to the punctates. This vessel is a good match for the notched projectile points we have been finding in this area. Last year we also found a crosshatched bodysherd with similar paste and temper. A date in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th century A.D. might not be out of line for this occupation. Not a bad start to the season!!

I forgot to mention last week that I’ve put a web page on the website with the results of C-14 dating last year. Both dates were late prehistoric. The links are: VESSEL 2 C-14 DATE and FEATURE 2 C-14 DATE.

We will not be meeting this Wednesday. Marianne and Brigitte have other commitments and I will be speaking about our excavations at the River Raisin Chapter in Monroe. We will be going into the field on Saturday.

Hope to see you at the site.

Scott

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Scott G. Beld, Ph.D.
Research Laboratory Specialist - Intermediate
The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
1109 Geddes Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079
Phone: 734-764-0489 (UMMP Main Office)
734-763-9253 (My Office)
Fax: 734-936-1380
Email: sbeld@umich.edu
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