The Fundamentals of Opening a Unit Before excavations begin, a unit must first be surveyed and located. This week, we opened two units above the location of one of the latrines associated with Block 8. We set up a total station (also known as a theodolite and an electronic distance measurer) which is used to [...]
Read full post »2011 Field Report 1
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Life in Block 8 The following was prepared by the students participating in the excavations at the Johnson’s Island Civil War Prison site this summer as part of the Heidelberg University Archaeological Field School. Since they are excavating within the former location of Block 8, they have decided to present some historical information on life [...]
Read full post »2010 Field Report 7 – Educators Contributions
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The following were put together by the various grade school and high school teachers participating in the graduate education course at Johnson’s Island. Groups of three or four students had the assignment to prepare one topic to include on this web site. Here are their contributions. Screening By: Niki Schiefer, Miranda Hessick and Kendra Foos [...]
Read full post »2010 Field Report 6 – Mapping
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Our group, that being group D, and all the others have been mapping all features and artifacts located in-situ in our units and the latrine. The purpose of mapping both features and artifacts is to record the provenience and context within that unit. Mapping requires the following tools: a tripod, total station, plumb bob, level, [...]
Read full post »Bone from the Latrine
Saturday, July 3, 2010
We are finding many animal bones in the sink (latrine) from Block 8 being excavated this year. Two of these bones are from a cow, the radius and ulna. In the pictures below, you can see one end (the proximal end of the ulna) shows a growth cap having yet to seal and the other [...]
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