Road Trip 2013: North Umpqua Archaeological Dig

The week of 9/16 to 9/20, camped at the Susan Creek Campground on the North Umpqua River.

Susan Creak BLM Campground

Susan Creak BLM Campground

This week I participated in an archaeological dig for the first time ever, and boy, did I ever learn a lot!!

It all started last year when Cory's girlfriend Molly, who is an archaeologist for the Bureau of Land Management, told me she was organizing an archaeological excavation on BLM property, and would I be interested.  In July of this year she asked me to fill out the online application at the Passport in Time website.  Passport in Time, usually referred to as PIT, is a clearing house for interested people to volunteer to help on various archaeological, cultural, or historical projects from all across the United States.  Below is the project description from the Passport in Time website:

"The Umpqua National Forest and the BLM (Roseburg District) are working together to study early human occupations along the North Umpqua River, specifically those found at the Susan Creek site, designated "35DO383." Previous studies suggest the site contains multiple occupations. Further, data from carbon dating and other diagnostic techniques used on cultural components like charcoal, features such as hearths, and other elements such as projectile points, drills, and ground stone, correspond with dates spanning the entirety of the Archaic (Early, Middle, and Late Periods, ca. ~8,000 B.P. - European Contact).

During this PIT project, volunteers and FS and BLM staff will perform subsurface studies at site "35DO383." As we excavate, map, plot, photograph, and sketch, volunteers will learn proper techniques, and will learn how to correctly handle and document cultural finds. Some of the earliest known human occupations of the Umpqua Basin have been documented at this site and, through our study this year, we hope to get an even better understanding of human existence and its place in the overall landscape of the past along the North Umpqua River."

There were nine PIT volunteers, plus BLM and Forest Service personal working on the project.  So each day the entire working crew consisted of 15 to 20 people, plus Zoey.  :-)

"Look at the nice neat hole I dug, Dad!!"

The archaeology of this region is divided into two periods; either Pre-Mazama or Post-Mazama.  Mt. Mazama is the destroyed volcano in Oregon that erupted about 7,600 years ago.  The volcano's collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake.  The widespread ash deposits make a distinctive and identifiable layer in archaeological excavations.

Note the lighter color of the Pre-Mazama soil at the bottom of the pit.

Dr. Robert Musil, principal investigator, checking the floor elevation.

The dig was a two week project.  I participated the second week.  On the second day, Tuesday, we finally broke through the ash deposit and reached Pre-Mazama soil at about 160 centimeters (roughly 5 feet) below the surface.  The Pre-Mazama soil was severely compacted, and took forever to dig, pulverize and screen. However, we did find some very good 8,000 year old artifacts, including scraping tools, a broken spear point, left over flakes from tool making, and charcoal.  The charcoal can be radiocarbon dated to determine an absolute date.

The dig ended on Friday at a depth of 190 centimeters, which is about 75 inches.  We were still finding artifacts.  The plan is to cover the pit and continue to excavate next year.

This past week was a fascinating learning experience................