Dug in a paleo well today.
At least I think I did. Heres the scoop. I know there are several springs within 200yds of where Im digging and down the hill. About a month ago, I was digging on the low side of the site and hit a spring. It was chock full of pottery and charcoal but no points. Since then I have been working deep lodge sites right on top of a hill. The lodges are Mississippian and consist of about 7ft of stream bed sand with a much lower density of artifacts than other spots in the site. The problem is they were built over a layer of ancient material so I have been sifting all of it as I go and following the contour of the ancient terrain and hard pan. This sets the stage for today.
Im digging right on top of the hill and the clay suddenly rose about two feet. When I got over the little hump which was only a few feet wide, the clay dropped off suddenly and water started seeping into my hole! A spring right on top of the hill! I took a few scoops of soupy clay and was surprised to see large flint flakes/blades in it! I was already 6.5ft deep and the spring seems to have no bottom! I dug down to about 9ft and am still finding obvious habitation! Now Im so deep into the slushy stuff that it is hard to get the skidsteer out with a bucket. I dug across and the hole is about 12ft wide and i havent determined how long yet.
Here is my opinion--- In the earliest stages of this site, there was a spring here and it was CLEARLY dug out to a pool! There seems to be a clay dam around it about 2ft high that I presume was material removed as it was dug out and then used to hold water and it still IS to some extent thousands of years later! There was a weird mix of soil in there that must have been sediment but it contained artifacts as deep as i dug and it was all OLD!
Heres some stuff as it came out.
At least I think I did. Heres the scoop. I know there are several springs within 200yds of where Im digging and down the hill. About a month ago, I was digging on the low side of the site and hit a spring. It was chock full of pottery and charcoal but no points. Since then I have been working deep lodge sites right on top of a hill. The lodges are Mississippian and consist of about 7ft of stream bed sand with a much lower density of artifacts than other spots in the site. The problem is they were built over a layer of ancient material so I have been sifting all of it as I go and following the contour of the ancient terrain and hard pan. This sets the stage for today.
Im digging right on top of the hill and the clay suddenly rose about two feet. When I got over the little hump which was only a few feet wide, the clay dropped off suddenly and water started seeping into my hole! A spring right on top of the hill! I took a few scoops of soupy clay and was surprised to see large flint flakes/blades in it! I was already 6.5ft deep and the spring seems to have no bottom! I dug down to about 9ft and am still finding obvious habitation! Now Im so deep into the slushy stuff that it is hard to get the skidsteer out with a bucket. I dug across and the hole is about 12ft wide and i havent determined how long yet.
Here is my opinion--- In the earliest stages of this site, there was a spring here and it was CLEARLY dug out to a pool! There seems to be a clay dam around it about 2ft high that I presume was material removed as it was dug out and then used to hold water and it still IS to some extent thousands of years later! There was a weird mix of soil in there that must have been sediment but it contained artifacts as deep as i dug and it was all OLD!
Heres some stuff as it came out.
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