By Holly Bennett
Today marks the first full day of the last week in Chaco
Canyon and our 2013 Fall Field School in total. It is a silly mix of the bitter
and sweet. Last night we found ourselves discussing when we prefer the cold
onset of darkness. Six in the morning when we rise or six in the evening when
we sit down for dinner? There was no unanimous decision, but the truth is
either way you look at it dark brings cold. Plus, daylight savings forced its
agenda on us this week. And something I learned very clearly this morning is
that the theatrics of sunshine never really brings warmth here in the Fall. So
the bitter aspects are rising early in the cold. Now for the sweet. This
experience day in and day out provides those moments you know you’ll never
forgive yourself for not relishing. Luckily the crew in this field school is
really good at stopping and remembering what we are doing every day. Chaco
Canyon’s ever-changing beauty really helps to conjure up this appreciation. We
are on our third week of working beside Pueblo Bonito. We get to survey some of
the most beautiful landscape a naked eye will see. We look up at unbridled star
light every night. It’s kind of funny, because Chaco Canyon seems to slap us
upside the head with almost too beautiful beauty to insist on our great
fortune.
Today, our crew was split into two categories. You were either
down in your test pits or on survey with one of our teaching assistants. Those
that were in test pits had staggered duties. Some of the test pit crews were
directed to continue excavation based on what was appearing in their units.
Although continued excavation was exclusively permitted there was a bigger goal
in mind. Since we are very near the end of our time here, recording our
findings is the most important task at hand. What we have found needs multiple
forms of documentation and mapping is one of the largest ways to communicate
our findings. Today, the test pits that have reached an endorsed end started
mapping. This includes both plan view maps, which are like a bird’s eye view,
and stratigraphic maps which are detailed wall maps. So many of us started on
this very detailed venture.
The second group went on survey between the Wetherill
Cemetery and Pueblo Bonito. They were searching for historic artifacts. They
were looking for diagnostic artifacts and features. Diagnostic Artifacts are
artifacts that can provide detailed information. Today they mainly came in the
form of full bottles or cans. There was even an old wash tub found in the
field! As for the features, they were comparing aerial photos from the forties
to features that appeared in the field. They are seeking a comparison between
remaining structures with these older photos. Overall, today kicked off a
campaign to start tying up our field school work in Chaco Canyon. Turns out no
matter how cold and how tired we all our, the end is starting to feel a lot
more bitter than sweet. At least we have three more days to relish the last of
our time here!
And here is a photograph of what greated the crew the next morning in Chaco: first snowfall!
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| Snow on Wetherill Homestead excavations, November 5, 2013. |
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