So I have decided to once again split this article up. There will be a part three to this article. If you haven't read part one, I highly recommend you do so. It will give you some history of Fort Caswell and the reason the field school was there to do research.
We were a team of archaeologists — well at least a team of archaeology students — sent into the wilds of a vacation island in North Carolina with one purpose — find something interesting. We were roughing it in the beach condos that were across the street from the beach.
We were in a living hell. The hot tub wouldn't get hot, just sorta got bubbly.
On our first day out to the site, we were issued trowels and field journals, the two tools that no archaeologist can do without. We swore an oath over the trowels that I'm sure ran the risk of copyright infringement since it sounded just like the whole "this is my rifle" bit from "Full Metal Jacket," but at least it meant that we swore not to stab each other or the Baptist children that would come by the site.
Trust me, if you get asked a thousand times whether you have found dinosaurs, you feel like stabbing someone (and that was a question from some adult visitors). The following four weeks we commenced to digging in test pits that were 10 feet by 10 feet.
That's right! We were basically digging in professional sandboxes.
See, every step you take while digging needs to be documented so that you can provide an accurate record for future archaeological research, which means that not only did we have to write in that journal every day, but we took pictures, mapped every feature in the units, mapped the profile of the soil wall once we had dug down to six feet and mapped elevations with the same type of transit that you see guys doing road work using. This is all invaluable data that you have to learn how to record. It's not just digging and going home to drink.
No free hand. You have to triangulate every brick in order to draw your map to perfect scale.
This is that transit I was talking about. Being taught by the enthusiastic Tom Beaman on the right.
Here's a little tip for those of you who want to get into archaeology — wear shoes that fit properly!
You are going to be working on your hands and knees the majority of the time, and if you are wearing shoes that are just slightly too small, they will put a lot of pressure on you big toenails. That's what happened to me. I wore the wrong shoes for a couple days and eventually they decided they were going to fall out. It also doesn't help if you slam a shovel handle into one toe. Then that toenail wants out real quick.
Thankfully, I didn't include any pictures for your viewing delight.
So during all of the work, we were given lunch every day. It was a time we all looked forward to because it was a moment where we could sit for a moment and refuel. Every single day we had the pleasure of making sandwiches. Ham, turkey, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips, maybe some fruit and a whole pickle. Don't get me wrong, it was great to get a free lunch every day, but spending a whole month eating the same lunch with little variety makes you slightly crazy. I think I can count how many sandwiches I've made since field school on one hand.
That's the face of a man who has had one too many sand and cheese sandwiches.
That picture reminds me about one key thing with this work — you get incredibly dirty. That's OK. You will get used to it really quickly. It's all part of the job. The only downside is when you intentionally try to make a joke with ashen mud on your hands and accidentally cut your hand on a sharp piece of slate. Tip number two, make sure the first aid kit has proper supplies, otherwise, you learn about the many uses of duct tape really fast.
But I nailed it with the hand prints.
Next week I'll conclude with my experience at the William Peace Archaeological Field School at Fort Caswell, N.C. I'll finally get to all of the cool stuff we found, how we bonded through working under the hot sun and the adventure of the Pirate Bar. I hope you all have enjoyed part two!
And yes, Andy, I will talk about how you were the star of the show when it came to finding the moat.
