Spirits began to flag as our great weather for Week #1 turned into higher temps and humidity -- and who actually likes shovel tests? We have a significant large feature (or midden deposit) on one end of our field that needed some further delineation before selecting excavation units -- so students did some bucket auger testing to further delineate it. Below Miranda and Trey clean out the bucket auger. It's definitely big -- and very close to the "stone mound" recorded in historic documents. It will be interesting examining it -- which I suspect will prove to be BOTH early historic and prehistoric in nature.

Our excavations sit atop and on both sides of the earliest road in Middle Tennessee -- so we should not be surprised that the shovel tests have identified some amazing early historic deposits atop the prehistoric things we're also looking for. We're finding exciting evidence everywhere of the thousands of pioneers who traveled that road and camped alongside that road -- which wasn't moved until about 1846.

I had to leave for a few hours for a meeting, but when I got back after lunch -- shovel tests were closing down :) And the official CSAP field school mower was brought down to clear five areas for excavation units on Tuesday. After being out of commission and in storage for six years, Dr. Eubanks and I refurbished it and got it back into commission a few weeks ago.

This afternoon, Brandon took on the task of mowing all five excavation areas -- I will henceforth refer to him as the Brandonator for his expertise in wielding a pushmower on high johnson grass. Despite largely useless supervision from his peers John and Miranda, he whipped all the spots in shape this afternoon.

We done do be ready to start excavation units on Tuesday....