Archaeology can be hot, dirty, slow and tedious. Then comes the reward.
For Bryan Clemons, it was a palm-sized fragment of pottery made by people 2,000 years ago — 1,000 years before the city of Cahokia peaked in population.
Clemons, 27, of Edwardsville, found the artifact this week during an excavation on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus. He said people may have used their fingers to imprint designs on the object.
“It’s neat to put your fingernail where someone else did 2,000 years ago,” Clemons said. “It’s a connection to the past.”
Clemons is one of 10 anthropology students enrolled in an eight-week archaeological field school this summer.
They are excavating about two acres of the Gehring site, named after the farmer who owned the land before SIUE was established, just west of the soccer fields.
They have removed thousands of artifacts, mostly pottery fragments and chips off stone hoes.
“Most of what we find is (ancient) garbage,” said assistant anthropology professor Gregory Vogel, 44, who’s overseeing the dig. “But that’s OK because you can learn a lot from garbage.”
Vogel and his students hosted an open house Friday, allowing the public to view their work up close. Members of the university’s new Atlatl Club also gave spear-throwing demonstrations.
Visitors included Washington University graduate student Chad File, 32, of Sorento, and his 7-year-old daughter, McKenzie.
Her favorite part was helping to sift soil scraped out of a 6-feet-by 6-feet “test unit” in the middle of a cornfield.
“I got to do stuff,” McKenzie said excitedly. “I shook a screen and that separated the dirt from the fossils.”
This year’s archaeological crew is particularly enthusiastic because of information gathered during last year’s field school.
Students and faculty excavated the Gehring site for the first time since a professional dig in the 1970s.
They determined plowing and erosion had disturbed top soil, but lower layers had been left intact. They found more than 35,000 artifacts, many dating back to the Middle Woodland period 2,000 years ago.
“They were farmers, but they weren’t growing corn,” said Julie Holt, 41, chairwoman of the SIUE anthropology department. “Corn didn’t come until 1,000 years ago.”
People who lived during Middle Woodland period grew plants such as goosefoot, knotweed, may grass and sunflowers. They also hunted, fished, gathered nuts and berries and built mounds, like Cahokia residents.
Holt’s favorite artifacts from last year’s excavation include pottery fragments still colored with red pigment made from the mineral hematite.
This summer, tents are positioned over test units to help the archaeological crew stay cool. But on Friday, Vogel consulted the thermometer on his weather radio and announced it was 93 degrees in the shade before noon.
“You get kind of used to (the heat),” said anthropology major Victoria Weaver, 20, of Columbia. “We take nice breaks, like five to 10 minutes in the shade, get a drink of water and go back to work.”
Story from Belleville News-Democrat