Today
completes our first full field week in Chaco Canyon. We had half a day of
learning and excavation because of our long ride home to Albuquerque. The day
began with a hike to Pueblo Alto. This was a privilege earned after three
hardworking days in the field. We took the trail from Pueblo Bonito passing the
Wetherill Cemetery and scaled the walls to the mesa top. The trail upward was
somewhat rigorous across and behind the rock walls. The payoff was well worth
it, because the view on top was incredible. The hike along the mesa top kept
providing amazing views the whole way. It was early in the morning, so the sunrise
accompanied all the scenery perfectly. When we reached Pueblo Alto our guide
and teaching assistant Leigh gave us a preliminary overview of site assessment.
This is a process that accompanies surveying in the archaeological field. We relocate
known sites to assess any damage, including from the elk. After our tutorial on
this process we hiked back down the trail.
Once we were back at our excavation site near Pueblo Bonito
we returned to our test pits for continued work. My excavation partner
Priscilla and I began by setting up another test pit close to our original one
to see how far the wood planks that we found yesterday continued. Since it was a short day of field work
we will have to wait until next week before we can find this out. This was a short excavation session, but
provided many great discoveries. An elusive map that provided mention of some
architectural features was successfully proven in two test pits today.
Katherine, Catlyn, Holly and Curtis were the students that contributed to
Professor Wills’ project in these pits. They dug down and proved his belief
that there were architectural features to be found in these areas. It was a
very exciting moment for our whole class to partake in. Another moment of
excitement came when student Leon found a scorpion in his screen. This drew the
attention not only of our class, but nearby park stabilization workers.
Unfortunately, we had to close up shop by noon at such an exciting moment. We
finished up by covering all of our test pits with tarps because there is a good
chance that it will rain in Chaco Canyon tonight. We are all very excited to return to our second week in
Chaco starting again this Sunday.
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