Day 1 - Gett'n the Trowels Dirty

We just returned from our first day in the field. The part of the site where we are working is pleasantly shady with a hint of spider and chance of chalk, 100%. We made amazing progress setting things up today, but more importantly, we established a few ground rules. Naturally, no site can operate efficiently without rules; ours are pretty straight forward:

1. Don't poke the string
2. Don't pet the spiders
3. Remember the water
4. Cow

There's been some fantastic ideas bandied about over some of the old features at the site. I won't say more, I'll leave that for when a decision is made. However, this idea could lead to an very exciting find later in the season. Of course, everyone who comes out to the Public Archaeology Day will get a chance to hear it discussed first hand (hint, hint). As for now, we're content to uncover what appears to be French pottery. And chalk. Lots of chalk. Seriously, we're all really excited about this season. I have a feeling it's going to be great!

The 2012 Fort Tombecbe Archaeological Field School
Left to right: Brett Shaw, Brian Mast (Black Belt Museum Educational Coordinator), Andrea Zrake, Jordan Mahaffey, Kayla Slay, Alex Nelson, Lauren Stephens, Susanne Crouch, Nadine Armstrong, Ron Stafford (Volunteer). Not picutured, but ever present, Dr. John Hall, who raised the flags of France, Great Britain, and Spain over Fort Tombecbe