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!