Hey Fort Followers,
With the semester wrapping up, I have to draw the research on my flotation sample to a conclusion. The process was steady and very fruitful, and gave me a much better eye for artifact types. The goals for collecting the sample are being met, and further insights may be gained as the artifacts and ecofacts recovered from the sample move through the analysis process in the future.
The flotation sample I performed research on this semester was sourced from unit N6 E2, a unit that was open for excavation this year, and in previous years. The unit was excavated into the occupation zone this year by staff and summer camp participants. At, 35 cm below datum, they excavators were intrigued by some spots that looked like burning activity. Field notes from this season indicate a prominent rate of charcoal coming out of the unit, along with animal bones with traces of burning, and a bit of structural material as well. The sample was taken from the southwest corner of the unit and brought back to the lab for flotation, which we performed earlier this semester.
Items collected in the heavy and light fraction were ran through a tiered set of sieves to further separate the materials by size, and the individual pieces were sorted, weighed, and counted for cataloging, and further analysis. I was pleased to find a very high rate of charcoal in the sample, backing up the interpretations made this summer of a fire-related area of interest. Along with the abundant charred wood, I was intrigued to find a substantial quantity of undecomposed wood, still a nice nutty brown and fibrous. Wood isn’t something I think of as ideal for preservation, but the conditions here in ashy charred soil favored these little scraps enough to keep them this long.
Some preliminary charts that will be a part of my final research presentation show the spread of artifacts sorted by their collection groups, the light fraction and heavy fraction. These represent the portion of the sample that floated and sank respectively. The lighter material is dominated by charcoal and unburned wood. The heavier material is strongly weighted toward bone by mass, but features substantial charcoal as well. Though this was a small amount of mass, it featured high in frequency.
If this unit is reopened next year, a better scope of this fire-related soil could be obtained by doing flotation from the unit once again, both a consistent or divergent result could lead us toward valuable new conclusions about just how this section of the Fort was used over our period of interest.
I’m really excited to exercise better artifact observation in the field in the future, now that I have a keener eye for charcoal and wood in a mixed pile of sediment. These are very interesting bits of human behavior that blend into the rich soil of a wooded riverside. Thanks for revisiting this project throughout the season, I hope to continue sharing what we find out at the Fort in the near future!
-Jacob
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