Weeks Three and Four - Earrings, Bottle Tops, and Spoons!
We are nearly a month into the project after finishing Weeks Three and Four! Week Three was a short week due to the holiday, but nonetheless we completed a good amount of work. Our volunteers learned how to profile a unit on the 8th. “Profiling” is performed when we finish excavating a unit and can clearly see the stratigraphy (the different layers in the soil dating to different ecological and/or historical periods) in the unit’s walls. While profiling, we map out the different layers in the soil (based on color changes as well as other perceived differences in the soil) and eventually use this information to help date the artifacts we find. All artifacts are mapped in relationship to these soil changes (aka “stratum” or “strata”) as we excavate each unit.
On July 8th and July 15th, we hosted a Girl Scout and Boy Scout Career Day. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the event, I am including a link to the information packet we passed out at the event. You can obtain this packet by clicking here. We had at least 30 scouts at both events and had wonderful time sharing information on archaeology and the history of Echo Mountain with them. Participants learned how to be an archaeologist by “Munseling,” practicing excavation techniques, learning how and what to record at an archaeological site, and by finding important historical artifacts by screening the dirt from open excavation units. We want to thank Boy Scout Troop 161 from Temple City and their adult leader Mark Howlett for volunteering their time on both days and for making both events successful!
In Week Four, we completed our work in B2 and decided to add another excavation unit to its Northeast corner to gather more information on cooking practices in the section house. So far, we have found lots of window glass and a jar lid in B2a (the extension of B2) and hope to finish this unit off by Tuesday of Week Five.
We opened up three additional units during Week Four, including two units inside the Southern portion of the section house (named A1 and A2) and a unit North of the cesspool (named E1) and in what we now believe to be was a corral owned and/or operated by the section house owners (see photograph below). We have found lots of faunal materials (animal bones) in E1 as well as ceramic fragments that may have been thrown into the corral while the section house occupants were feeding their pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, mules, and/or cattle. We will be extending this unit out during Weeks Five and Six of the project to see if we can find further evidence of corral activity.
In Week Four, we welcomed Dr. Barbara Voss, Stacey Camp’s advisor at Stanford, and Dr. Dudley Gardner and his team of students from Western Wyoming Community College, to the site. Dudley’s team of archaeologists and students worked incredibly hard at exposing the Southern portion of the section house. So far, the Southern units (A1 and A2) have provided a wealth of personal effects from the house’s occupants. This week, the Wyoming team found an eye glass, a spoon, and some jewelry pictured below. Based on these findings, we have decided to excavate more units in the Southern portion of the house in Weeks Five and Six of the project. Depending on funding and the amount of volunteers who are able to come out to the site, we may also decide to extend the project for one more week (Week Seven). If anyone is interested in volunteering during the first week of August and can provide their own lodging, please email me (Stacey Camp) at scamp@stanford.edu.
Marisa Solorzano, our Crew Chief, is continuing to work hard on excavating the cesspool (also known as D1). We have yet to find the base of it and are hoping to find it by the end of Week Five. The cesspool has produced a number of interesting artifacts in Week Three and Week Four, including fragments of a toothbrush, medicine bottles, and bottle stoppers (see photographs below).
We said goodbye to a few of our volunteers this week, including Sonia Sifuentes and Melanie Rudolph, who have both been with us since the start of the project, and John Colgrove, who spent his vacation week with us. Thanks you guys for your help and for braving the wildlife and intense heat!
This coming Saturday, July 22nd, we will be hosting Public Archaeology Day on Echo Mountain. For the past two years (2005 and 2006), Stacey Camp has been excavating a historic section house on Echo Mountain that was inhabited by Mexican immigrants working on the railway between 1906-1936. At the event, you will learn information on the history of Echo Mountain, see excavations in progress, and view artifacts found so far at the site.
To get to the site, you’ll need to exit the 210 Freeway at Lake Avenue and go North (towards the mountains) to the top of Lake. On the right is a gate which marks the remains of the historic Cobb estate. The street then curves around to the left and turns into Loma Alta Drive. Park your car at or just below the Cobb estate gates on Lake and wait in front of the gates. We will be meeting here on Saturday at exactly 7:00am. My car is a grey 2003 Ford Escape and will usually be at the meeting point by 7:15am.
Once everyone arrives at the gates, we will discuss the history of the project and site. We will then tailgate up to a fire road which can only be accessed by Forest Service personnel (Stacey Camp). It is therefore vital that you contact me at 626.429.2912 if you are running late. You will not be able to access the trail to the site if you do not carpool up to Echo Mountain. We are asking all participants to transport themselves to the trailhead. The road up to the site is paved. We will be hiking approximately 1 mile to the site from the trailhead. There is an elevation gain of approximately 400 feet on the hike out of the site. We will be leaving the site at approximately 11:30am and will get back to Lake Avenue around noon.
Stacey opening up a New Unit – E1 – in the “Corral” Area of the Site
E1 – Wooden Posts possibly related to the Corral exposed in Southern Portion of Unit
Marisa Solorzano (Crew Chief) and Zach Wegner (Local Historian and Volunteer since 2005) profile the Cesspool (D1)
Left to Right: Laura Ng, Koji Ozawa, and Dr. Barbara Voss examine E1
John Colgrove (Volunteer Archaeologist) and Paula Wegner (Local Historian and Volunteer since 2005) screen dirt from the Cesspool
Spoon found in A1
Inkcap
Bottle Stopper
An Earring
A Teapot Lid to a Doll’s Teapot Set
A2 in the Southern Portion of the Section House
The Wyoming Team working in the Southern Portion of the Section House
