We are currently sitting at the site of a
barn that was constructed to support the McGulpin
Point Lighthouse.
McGulpin Point Lighthouse was a lighthouse
that was built in 1869 and operated up until
1906.
An archeological field school is kind of a
must have for any student who is serious about
a career in archeology, it's their chance
to learn that the approaches and the methods
talked about in class and lecture, it gives
them a chance to interact with the public
and also interact with the artifacts that
they are finding and understand how to identify
little bits and pieces of what maybe broken
fragments of larger objects.
It's very important to keep in line and to
remember what all needs to be done and how
to do it, so that you can accurately record
the data.
If you don't accurately record the data you
don't you don't know for example what layer
the artifact came from you don't know exactly,
you won't have an estimation of what year,
or in between what years or what era.
Which is why we carefully go layer by layer
by layer when we dig.
We work very systematically, its ten centimeters,
if you miss that, well, then you have to adjust
in the next level.
You need to keep measuring constantly so you
know where you are at.
And it's that sort of process that gets ingrained
in you and you can take that forward to wherever
you are working.
It's a real tangible object to hold in your
hands that someone was using a hundred years
ago or more.
Its kind of a window into their lives, its
just a strong indicator that people where
here and they were living going thru daily
lives like you and I are right now.
