Laserfiche WebLink
Combined with the results from Shovel Test 2, which was primarily situated within <br />Test Pit 2, TP2 (50cm x 50cm) produced 39 flakes at 0-1Ocm (FS31) including an obsidian <br />microflake (FS32) (note: the 0-2cm level was not provenienced separately in this unit), 57 at <br />10-20cm (FSs 34 and 38), and 10 from 20-30cm (FS52). Of note, an experiment was <br />conducted in this unit where the fill from the 10-20cm level was screened through 1 mm <br />window screen to determine how many microflakes, if any, were being missed in the 1/8" and <br />1/4" screens. The resultant flakes (FS34) were re -sifted through both 1/8" and 1/4" screens in <br />the lab and it was discovered that 41 microflakes were recovered in the window screen that <br />would have been missed by the 1/8" mesh, and an additional 5 by the 1/4" screen. <br />Additionally, in TP2, a possible groundstone fragment (FS36) was found at 10-20cm <br />below pgs, a water -worn pebble at 19cm, and small to minute charcoal fragments at all levels. <br />Pollen samples were collected from the east wall of Test Pit 2 at 8-10cm, 12-14cm, and 23- <br />25cm (FSs 55, 56, and 57 respectively). <br />As is evident in Figure 3, although numerous fragments of oxidized and heavily <br />oxidized sandstone and small amounts of charcoal were noted, primarily but not exclusively in <br />the 8-21cm level, no ash stain could be observed in the fill and no evidence of an in situ <br />cultural feature of any description was found. The oxidized rock fragments were intermixed <br />with those that showed no sign of heat alteration, and it remained unclear, at this point in the <br />investigations, whether the oxidation was a result of human or natural causes. <br />Test Pit 3 (involved the excavation of approximately 0.6 square meters within grid units <br />5N2W and 5N3W), which developed into an excavation measuring lm east -west by 75cm <br />north -south, was opened to the west and south of Shovel Test 5 in order to more fully explore <br />the nature of the charcoal, possibly ash -stained soil, and upright slab found there. Although the <br />mix of unaltered, oxidized, and heavily oxidized sandstone; scattered charcoal flecks and <br />fragments; and moderately dense lithic debitage was similar in TP3 to what is seen elsewhere <br />in the surrounding test excavations, these tests succeeded in exposing a possible cultural <br />feature. <br />The complex investigations and findings within adjacent and interconnected Shovel <br />Test 5 and Test Pits 3A through 3D can be summarized as follows. Subtle differences in the <br />amounts of charcoal and grayish -brown (possibly faintly ash -stained) fill among and within a <br />roughly circular arrangement of larger clasts of sandstone, and that to the exterior of these <br />rocks, suggests that Feature 2 possibly represents the remnants of a thermal feature (Plate 5, <br />Figure 5). It is important to keep in mind, when viewing Plate 5, that a significant number of <br />rocks had been removed prior to taking the photograph, creating a rock circle much more <br />22 <br />