The weather gods continue to smile on us! Friday was a glorious day; incidentally, it was “International Talk Like a Pirate Day“. Tovah kindly dressed up like a pirate to score us a free box of donuts. Thanks Krispy Kreme!
We made good progress, completing 12 STPs during class. If we can do the same this week, we’ll finish Whispering Woods Site 7. Have we found anything? A possible quartz flake and some glass, but nothing exciting. That’s okay! We intentionally started with a low-potential site. Site 7 was not recommended for further testing in the original Phase I report; however, the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office did want it included in the Phase II work plan. For our class, this was a sensible way to introduce first-timers to field work without the worry of “messing it up”.
What we have learned is more about the natural stratigraphy of the of area. We have a plow zone of sandy loam of about 6 inches overlaying a redder sub soil. In some areas there is an intermediate, yellow-brown sandy loam but as one gets closer to the tree line, the intermediate layer peters out. This understanding of the natural soil will help us when/if we encounter something different which might indicate a feature.
Hopefully, this week we can finish up Site 7 and move onto Site 4. Site 4 has a much higher artifact potential and we will use both STPs and excavation units.