Welcome to Archaeology!

Shiloh National Military Park is located just outside of Savannah, Tennessee. The Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historic Landmark consists of several Mounds, of which we were excavating Mound A, the closest to the Tennessee River.

"The Shiloh Indian Mound Group National Register and National Historic Landmark site is the largest late prehistoric Mississippian period site still remaining in the Tennessee River Valley, and one of the largest mound groups in the National Park system in the country. The Shiloh mound and village complex was built from approximately A.D. 1000 to 1400, and was the political and ceremonial center of a society dominating this part of the region." *Information from "Project Information and Policy Manual"

Shiloh Archaeological Project
Shiloh National Military Park
2003
Southeast Archaeological Center
National Park Service

   Mound A has been slowly eroding into the river each year. The excavation of the Mound, a Phase III project, consisted of salvaging a piece of the side and top to record data about each stage of the mound before it was lost.
   A Phase III is one of the most in-depth archaeological studies today. There are many stages involved, from laying out grids and recording the area information, opening units, investigating artifacts in the lab, and doing background research out of the field.
   *This is a multi-part page, because I took too many photos and also because there is quite a bit to explaining how it all works. If you want to skip the boring parts and get right down to the interesting photos, either skim through the photos on either side of the page or click the links located at the bottom of each page. Many terms on this page are linked to definitions so find and click away! Get your learn on.*

The people who make up the crew of an archaeology project come from a diverse area of backgrounds and places. They also have all kinds of educational backgrounds and interests. Many of the archaeologists we work with are people with an interest or degree in History, American history in particular. I've also noticed many Art and Art History majors, and quite a few English/Literature folks. I've worked with females and males in ages ranging from high school interns to post-retirement. This lends to quite an interesting bunch of people!
Our crew consisted of people mostly from the East Coast of the US with varying backgrounds. Many of the crew were from Tennessee, where we were working. We had some full-time crew as well as volunteers.

The crew during a very big storm

   The Crew of an archaeological investigation is made up of a hierarchy of people with different responsibilities which vary from project to project. The head of the site is the Principal Investigator, or PI (kind of like private eye, but not). Under this person is the Project Manager, and then the Field Crew Chief, or Crew Chiefs, depending on how many crew members there are.
   There is the crew, in and out of the field, with different responsibilities. We also have other positions such as the Historian, Office Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, Lab Manager, Carpenters, Photographer... who fill in any spots the project might need for those little extras.
   By the end of the day, all our hard work paid off and we came home a very dirty bunch.

Everyone on a site keeps busy doing their job, digging, screening, supervising, cleaning up, fixing tools... We had a few people running around checking out work being done, making sure everything was ok, checking little bugs in the system, fixing broken rubbers on the rail, sharpening shovels, carrying barrels, checking paperwork, calling people, ordering items... Anything and everything that would keep a project or business busy.
Our P.I. was constantly taking photos of the area and any features or units which needed recording. Two very high deer stands were set up to get full-coverage of the site. Our volunteer coordinator, Emily, kept everyone busy helping out where needed and giving encouragement to everyone. She also ran the volunteer housing, and kept up with all volunteers coming and going by phone and email.

Taking bird's eye view shots

"The tools of the trade"
   Span a huge variety of objects ranging in size and use from little toothbrushes (which some archaeologists do use) to huge pieces of machinery bigger than an elephant.
   The transit, an engineering tool, is basically a measuring device on three legs used along with a large stick marked with lines and numbers to determine the elevation of the ground surface in relation to the Datum. The Datum is a randomly selected point of reference used as a starting point from which all other measurements are compared.
   First off, the area is blocked off into a grid pattern and units are set up. This is done carefully and precisely so all information can be recorded and used later when the units are completed. If not, future researchers will not be able to go back to the site and get any correct information because most of the process of archaeology is, as one fellow archaeologist put it, "an inherently destructive science".

The Transit

The Transit Pole

Barrels are your friend. Load these up with all your dirt and send them away. But be careful because they always come back for more. They are a never-ending resource. Like the old story of the man who tried to roll a stone up a hill...
If you look at the photos, you'll notice there are several colors of barrels. There is a color-code system at work here. Each person has a barrel to dump the matrix (or bulk) of their level into. Many of the units need to be screened for artifacts. The rest are dumped at the bottom of the mound. The blue buckets are dump buckets and anyone can put their dirt in these. The red buckets started as non-dump buckets, but soon we were using all the colors and had to keep track of what was going on at the bottom. Although a great system, it degraded into a bit of chaos and at the bottom blue was still dump but the only way to tell the rest was to look for a big "X" in duct tape for dump or a duct tape label with information to screen. Oh yes, and duct tape is also your friend.

Here's the units with some nice tools. Please take note... "tools of the trade" in this scene consist of Picks, Dustpans and Trowels. There area no toothbrushes or little pointy sticks. We use them, but rarely. Can you imagine how long it'd take to dig through a mound of clay with a toothbrush? This also goes for finding dinosaurs, pirate gold and hidden treasure.

	Buckets and sanbags and sprayers oh my... The buckets are for small features or small amounts of soil, the sandbags for support and stabalization of walls as well as protecting the walls from water damage, and the sprayer is to help loosen soil and distinguish colors and features in the unit.

Before showing all the other little tools I'll explain the unit. Your basic unit is a block of some pre-determined measurement, in metrics, from one meter by one meter to six by six meters (from those I've seen). We worked on one by ones, lined up next to each other along the top of the Mound. The units are laid out using the transit, tape or rulers, pins and colored string, and checked using the Pythagorean Theorem. (Thought you'd never see that again right?) A unit is also divided into quadrants (quads) to make it easier to dig and keep track of artifacts.
Each unit is given a name and location in relation to the Datum. For instance, the North-East corner, so N1800E200. Then the field techs gets to work destroying their own personal plot of land with tools and such, paying attention to anything unusual or noteworthy.

	Two Unit Profiles

Page 1: Introduction and Induction Page 2: Methods of Excavation Page 3: Features, Artifacts, and Other Goodies Page 4: Water Screening and Lab Stuff Page 5: Wildlife, Living Quarters, and Assorted Goodies

What do archaeologists do after they get off work?well... those wild and crazy guys and gals set off for mucho fun at various locations:

Slugburgers, Catfish, Flea Markets, and other Craziness

Area Maps:
Shiloh, TN by Yahoo!
Web Resources:
Shiloh, Excavation of Indian Mounds planned
Article from the Jackson Sun, very well researched, good background information on all aspects of the park, the mounds, and the project.
SEAC Archaeologists at Mound A
Day-to-day photos of the current excavation, info on past excavations, and volunteer information. *And me!*
Shiloh Indian Mounds History
Shiloh Park website about the mounds' history
Hardin County
Very good guide to the area.