Old Dirt - New Thoughts

Our Homecoming open dig was a lot of fun. Our timing was fortunate, with one of the nicest days we’ve seen this week. I was impressed by our returning volunteers - they knew what to do and started working as soon as they arrived. I had it easy. I just went around talking to people and everyone else did all the hard work. Public archaeology certainly has its advantages.

Maya had the find of the day - a metal enamel cup, slightly crushed but otherwise intact. She found it in a thin lens of ash and coal. The lens appears to be a trash dump, presumably from a coal burning stove. Stratigraphically it post-dates the church, but it indicates some refuse disposal was incorporated into the fill over the church.

It was a great day for Hamline area historians. We had a lot of conversations about the early church history, local architecture, and future sites to dig. All the possibilities are intriguing, I just need to convince Hamline that I should start offering Excavating Hamline History every semester instead of every other year.