Plakias 6/29

Today we opened 3 new trenches, and strung up outlines for several more! Our progress has really picked up since we fell into a good pattern. The coral reef still emerges, but with all the new trenches, once we get below the stratum of interest we can move on to a new one. We're breaking ground in a checkerboard pattern, and will fill in the gaps in our last week of digging.

The order of the day begins with cleaning any debris off your surface that might have blown in during the nigh. Then, if you didn't the afternoon before, take the elevations for your spit. Miriam works our total station, which gives you coordinates and elevations to the millimeter. Each time you hit a new stratum or spit, she takes the new elevations in each corner and the center of the trench.

Once the elevations are done, a photograph is taken of the trench with a chalkboard label and scales to show the size. A 25% soil sample is taken from the SW corner (unless there are two many rocks) to be taken to the floatation. As soon as that corner is dug down to the next spit we bring the rest of the trench down to that level, putting the soil in our rubber zambilia to sieve through. At the sieve we can find any small artefacts we might have missed while digging. Once the spit is done we sweep off any loose dirt for our new pictures and elevations.

It's simple enough, but the lower strata are very compacted and full of clay, so with the dense digging and working around rocks and coral it's a long process. On average we each get through 2 spits a day, three if we're lucky.