Holy Productivity!

Yesterday, our resident geophysical expert, UWF graduate student Sarah Mitchell, was back out at Arcadia. She had previously come out a month ago to run the resistivity machine through our site. While the findings were indeed interesting, Sarah and our Principle Investigator, John Phillips thought that giving UWF's other geophysical equipment a shot would give us a clearer picture of the archaeological materials beneath our feet. It's also a fantastic opportunity for students to be exposed to high tech archaeological methodologies that they may not have a chance to use in the regular Cultural Resource Management world.

This time, Sarah brought out the gradiometer- a machine that creates an artificial magnetic field in order to measure the interaction of environmental electrostatic fields and gradients in a tested area. On the left, Sarah quickly walks the gradiometer along our established grid in order to obtain the most scientifically regulated results. If you notice, Sarah is wearing track pants and a simple cotton t-shirt. Although this is not standard field wear, there is an important reason for such an outfit! Any metal- from big things like cars and powerlines to little things like grommets, zippers, and steel toed boots can skew or ruin the gradiometer's readings. Nevertheless, most of our well-equipped crew had to watch this survey from deep behind the treeline!

We eagerly await the results!

Sarah will return next week to complete the gradiometer survey, as well as preform a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of an architecture feature-rich portion of our Area A.

Today was also a productive day. We completed a number of exploratory shovel tests in Area A in our search for additional architectural features. Also, in our newest open unit 12, students working there uncovered a number of interesting finds! On the right, student Shane McDonald holds our first whole bottle! It's a pharmaceutical bottle with a hand applied lip and pontil mark on the base. The bottle is embossed with the name for a hair restorer and skin tonic dating back to the 1860's. These patent medicines (also known as 'snake oil') usually did more harm than good with ingredients like alcohol and cocaine, but were very popular throughout the nineteenth-century as Americans became more trusting of the scientific pursuits of the medical field.

In addition to the whole bottle, students in the same unit found a nearly whole pipebowl (left). This marks our seventh pipebowl of the season, each with a unique design. It's certainly becoming clear how the people who lived on the site spent their free time!

Student Highlight! Trey Ropelis

Trey is an undergraduate senior majoring in General Anthropology. He has lived all over the U.S., but has spent most of his life in Idaho. He came to UWF with no clue of what he'd be majoring in, but after one intro to anthropology course with Dr. Spradley, he was hooked. This is his final semester before he graduates and he hopes to find a job in the National Park Service after he's done with field school.

Switch!

This week marks the beginning of the second half of the summer field season. This means a lineup change! Last week was the end of Amanda, Capri, Eric, Peter, and Lynne's terrestrial field school and the beginning of their maritime. They all have developed into excellent terrestial archaeologists and good friends and we'll miss having them around the site.

On the right, student Eric Bezemek shovel shaves around architectural features in Unit 6.

By the end of last week and the beginning of this, these departing students were able to wrap up any loose ties for the units and features they've been working on. So far they were able to help the Arcadia field school finish two and a half units, open a new (and very productive) unit, complete sixteen features, nine shovel tests, and recover several hundred bags of artifacts!

On the left, students Amanda Dahlberg and Shane McDonald finish the wall profiles after the completion of Unit 4.

On Friday and this past Monday, students worked on a number of shovel tests north of our current Block 1 in Area A. These shovel tests were set to explore the area for additional architectural sandstone or brick features. Students uncovered two new cut sandstone blocks that have served to deepen the mystery of the nature of our structure. Is it only one large building? Several small, adjacent buildings? On small building with a number of additions? Further analysis of the features and artifacts discovered (and lots more work to be completed) will help us pinpoint the truth!

We've had an outstanding first half! We're so proud of our students and how they've advanced their knowledge and practice of archaeological techniques. We've both answered and generated a ton of interesting questions about the inhabitant of this structure (or structures!). Only time will tell what the second half will bring.

And lastly, on Monday, the last day for the Arcadia first half combo students, the crew decided to celebrate by jumping in Pond Creek to cool off! Definitely a well-deserved reward at the end of a long, hot five weeks.

Student Highlight! Amanda Dahlberg

Amanda Dahlberg is a senior at UWF pursuing a degree in archaeology with a minor in maritime studies. She is originally from Sarasota, FL and came to UWF to participate in the maritime archaeology program. After she is finished with her time here at Arcadia she will be embarking on the maritime field school for 5 weeks, she can't wait to learn more archaeology skills while SCUBA diving!

The Floridian Summer strikes!

This week has opened with record high temperatures for this field season. Although it's not even officially summer, the students (particularly the out-of-state students and supervisors) are learning how to function in the heat. Already this week, the students have finished two of our 2m by 2m units and as well as documented and excavated a feature and removed a level. If this heat and humidity can't stop the Arcadia crew, nothing can!

Today, half of our students got a chance to participate in phase I survey work. Five of our students (Peter Sittig, Amanda Dahlberg, Lynne Fobian, Capri Wright, and Eric Bezemek) accompanied supervisor Andrew Christensen and consultant Elizabeth Murphy headed over to Area D to reexamine this intriguing part of the Arcadia Mills property.

Last year, students preformed a controlled surface collection and completed a number of systematic shovel tests to explore the small upland parcel for the evidence domestic occupation. Our work last year uncovered a number of different kinds of artifacts that prompted us to come back this year. So far, students excavated six shovel tests, all but one of which were positive. We plan to do more work in this area to figure out just what is going on! Stay tuned for the results.

Student Highlight! Lynne Fobian

Lynne Fobian is a senior majoring in General Anthropology for her second Bachelors at the University of West Florida. She is attending the combination field school to help further her experience in Archaeology. Her future goal: to be a Famous Maritime Archaeologist.

Fantastic Friday

Last week wrapped up on an especially high note. Work progressed beautifully on finishing the our block. In Unit 6 our fifth pipebowl was found. As a specially added bonus- it was whole! This is just one more puzzle piece in the daily lives of the residents of our domestic structure.

Our new unit (Unit 12) was also pleasantly productive last Friday. We found a number of interesting artifacts in a feature, part of which was excavated last summer. In addition to a high percentage of fasteners (both nails and spikes), a large number of personal and domestic artifacts were recovered. These included two leather boot heels (left), buttons, green glass drawer pulls, and hooks and eyes for clothing closures. These personal items give us a tangible connection to those who've enjoyed the Arcadia complex long before us.

Other exciting finds within this feature are a large metal plate 50cm x 30cm (approximately 20 in x 12 in) perhaps from a stove or a piece of machinery, as well as half a dinner plate. Additional fragments of the plate were recovered this past Monday and the students working on that unit quickly identified a partial maker's mark! Hopefully this mark will help us place a more narrow time bracket for the period of occupation of this site. Below you can see an in-progress shot of this awesome feature as it appears straddling two units. Notice the large metal plate on the left and the dinner plate on the right.

Lastly, on the right you can see field school student Peter Sittig excavating the feature above. We were quite pleased to find such a large piece of ceramic. It's definitely one of the biggest pieces recovered in the past two seasons.

Student Highlight!: Peter Sittig

Peter Sittig graduated this past May from the State University of New York at Oswego in central New York with a B.Sc. in Anthropology. His interests include maritime and terrestrial archaeological endeavors, as well as downhill skiing, kayaking, and being outdoors. Recently, Peter participated in the archaeological survey of Wartenick Wells, an island port of the Exuma Cays National Park in the Bahamas.

Student Highlight! Capri Wright

Capri Wright is an undergraduate senior at UWF pursuing a degree in Archaeology. She has also attended two other universities, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and University of Montana. She hopes to continue her education with UWF as a graduate student next year. Capri will be participating in the Maritime Field School as well this summer.

Great Week!

After such a long and rainy week, the Arcadia crew was excited to get back to work! In order to keep things fresh, the students get to join new crews and work in new areas of the block. As expected, the students weren't phased a bit by the jumble.

Here, Trey (left) tries his hand at excavating a builder's trench feature.

Progress on Block 1 continues smoothly. Two of the 2m by 2m units are nearly will be completed by early this week. The students also got an opportunity to employ their high school geometry. They learned how using the Pythagorean theorem to make a perfect square is much more easy in theory than in practice. Nevertheless, two brand new units were put in along the east end of Block 1. Students Capri Wright, Lynne Fobian, and Peter Sittig got to open the first brand new unit of the season. Unit 12 was almost immediately productive.

Here you can see student Capri Wright (right) uncovering a large metal strap or latch. We hope that this unit can help us answer previously established questions about the nature of the structure or structures we are revealing, as well as the daily lives of those who lived in it.

Student Highlight! Eric Bezemek

Eric is a senior at University of West Florida, majoring in archaeology. He is originally from Michigan, where he spent a great deal of time diving on the pristine shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. He moved to Florida after a 11 and a half year stint in the Navy to pursue a degree in maritime archaeology. After receiving his BA Eric intends to attend graduate school to further his education in maritime archaeology.

Wash out

It does seem as though our plans were overly ambitious. Heavy rains tormented us all week.

On Wdnesday the crew listened to the research presentation of UWF professor candidate Jennifer McKinnon. Following this early morning meeting, weather outlets overwhelmingly predicted imminent doom. In order to spare the crew another soaking, we all headed downtown to tour the Destination! Archaeology Resource Center housed in FPAN's building. Here, the students were able to take a "road trip" through Florida's archaeological and historical resources.

After that, the crew headed over to visit the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum. This was an excellent opportunity for all of the students (especially the out-of-towners) to learn all about Pensacola's historic and archaeological past. On the left, you can see a herd of elusive archaeologists outside their natural habitat.

Students were able to learn about Pensacola's earliest prehistoric inhabitants, Spanish, British, French, and American occupants, Pensacola Bay's shipwrecks, and about the eclectic character known as T. T. Wentworth, Jr.

Above, you can see our UWF archaeologists admiring an exhibit about UWF archaeologists.

Finally, on Friday we were able to have our first full day of field work for the week! The students gainfully returned to their posts excavating levels and features. On the right, Trey Ropelis excavates a builder's trench features using a spoon to get into a tight spot.

At the end of the day, the students learned how to use the Pythagorean theorem to set in two new 2 meter by 2 meter units adjacent to the east side of Block 1. We will be photographing and mapping these two one Monday before beginning with excavation.

These two new units are particularly promising, because they will more than likely contain the unexcavated portions of a number of artifact rich, archaeologically interesting features. Likewise, there have been tempting views of a number of large artifacts in the walls that we will finally be able to remove for study after having identified them a whole year ago.

Check back in the next couple of days to monitor our progress!

Rain!

We're making excellent progress towards completing the units in Block 1! Of the four 2m x 2m units, two are nearly complete. Unit 6 in the block's northwest corner has proven to be a complicated mix of fill- and construction-type features that the students have had to use their best archaeological skills to figure out. Here (left), students Meagan Rhea and Amanda Dahlberg display yet another pipebowl fragment recovered (this time with a maker's stamp!) and the saucer that had been teasing us since Week 1.

Unfortunately, rain has plagued the last two weeks, hampering our thus-far awesome progress. Last Wednesday, the crew got caught in a torrential downpour! The students were able to quickly protect the exposed archaeological remains and paperwork, sometimes at the expense of their own personal belongings!

Here (above) the crew recovers from last week's deluge.

After a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend, the crew was anxious to get back to work. We hope to expand Block 1 east to chase some rather awesome, artifact rich features. The features, seen in Unit 3, Unit 5, and Unit 6 of Block 1, have contained dense concentration of domestic and personal artifacts that are informing us about the types of people that occupied the house over time and who worked in the Arcadia complex.

Unfortunately, today we weren't able to make the progress we'd hoped. We did manage to get in a few photos. Here (right), Trey Ropelis and Meagan Rhea show off their crazy photo prep skills: They managed to not only shade the unit for the photo by elevating the tent, but keep creatively keep their feet out of the shot, as well!

At promptly 10:45 am thunder rolled in. We managed to eke out a bit more work before it became abundantly obvious that all hope was lost. Fortunately, unlike during last week's storm, we made it back to the Visitor's Center before becoming well and thoroughly soaked.

After lunch, students got a chance to learn how to assemble and prepare our Sokkia Total Station unit. This is a surveying machine we use to make accurate and thorough site maps, as well as record elevations. The students found out it is far trickier to get the Total Station perfectly level than one might think. Here (left) Salina Hebert and Meagan Rhea give it a try.

Though the ten-day forecast doesn't look too promising, the Arcadia students will be doing their best to squeeze in what little work we can manage to between the raindrops. Check back soon to see how overly ambitious this plan turns out to be!