Still pretty hot today -- but a few degrees cooler, the humidity was lower, and there was a bit of a breeze most of the day. So, everybody continued diggin' and trying to keep good spirits -- like Melody, Amanda, Lauren, and Crystal.
The backdirt piles were looking pretty impressive for Day 2 -- nice sifted dirt. No, the dirt is not for sale -- as we will undoubtedly have to tell at least half of the local visitors...
We continue to find very intriguing evidence of very early historic uses of the areas around the springs and along the early road. Virtually everything we're finding suggests very last 1700s and very early 1800s -- glazed redwares and creamwares, with a smattering of very early pearlwares thrown in for good measure. And today -- a handwrought nail fragment. The latest nails I've seen so far are early machine-cut hand-headed nails.
And then, of course, more tantalizing indications of the presence of the Mississippian peoples in the form of small triangular arrowpoints. While all the groups are still in the plow disturbed zones -- the suggestion is clear that this area was not ever plowed very much, and there are great possibilities ahead of us.
Tomorrow is looking like it might be a wash for the morning, so perhaps I'll show up in the morning with a powerpoint of objects from the late 1700s recovered from the nearby Bledsoe's Fort excavations so they know a little more about what to look for. As they say.... Tomorrow is another day.