On Site...
at Chaves-Hummingbird

July 24: Life on the dig...

Note: More of today's photos are included in the photo selection found on this site's home page.

Dr. Mike Adler speaking with
volunteers in Room 5.

By now, I know each of the people on this expedition as a person, and personalities become central to this scientific endeavor after the first week of close quarters, meals, and very challenging work. It's far more than fortunate, in fact, it is simply a joy that this group gets along so well. This is something that the "science" of archaeology never fully captures. You can put twenty personalities together, add lots of dirt, intense sunshine, a dollop of refreshing breezes, shake the mixture, and either get a great deal accomplished or suffer an explosion. We've been shaking and stirring for ten days. We've accomplished a great deal with no loud noises.

Work in the north roomblock.

Our investigations continue to plumb the depths of the site. Under Sev's guidance, Frank and Dean long since disappeared in their room subfloor test pit, now continuing into the natural soil levels that underlie the site. Amy, Aaron and Sarah are finding great deposits of ash, charcoal, and other detritus in the plaza and "backstreet" areas of the northern roomblock. The Room 5 crew of Jeannie, Christine and Adam has completed half of their burned room, and will move to a new room tomorrow. Why do we only excavate half of the room? In this case, we've reached the "point of redundancy" in our data collection. The materials filling the room look the same in these two quadrants, there are no artifacts or features that stretch across most of the room, and I think we've got a very good handle on what this room is all about. When that occurs I stop excavating, since there are no anomalous things I want to investigate and further digging simply means more destruction of this fragile archaeological record.

Mike and Jay, working into the trench.

The work on the main mound continues apace. Mike and Jay are rivaling their colleague's work by continuing down into lower levels, exposing the early years of occupation at the site in a relatively small testing pit. Mary, Jane and Tim are weathering strong sun, lots of stone wall fall, and the intermittent practical joke from other groups to continue into their room 901 fill. Similarly, Michael Bletzer is assisting Susan in her quest for the floor in her new room, and today's discoveries include most of an Agua Fria glaze-on-red vessel and some very large turkey bones.

Chris and Zach working a hilltop on site.

We've had some youthful experts assisting on the excavations as well. My son, Christopher Adler, and his friend, Zachary Turner, have slaved away in several of the excavation areas at the site. For Zach this is his first entrée into the world of archaeological research. Chris has grown up on and around digs, so is playing the host on this one.

Above: A baby horned toad found on site. Below: A rattle snake found near the site.

Finally, life on the dig has not lacked interesting visitors, including rattlesnakes, horned toads, tarantulas and other many-legged insects. These visits add life to each day on the excavation, augmenting what is already a very satisfying and productive research project.

The Rio Puerco basin occupies roughly 16,000 square kilometers of northwestern New Mexico. Rio Puerco is one of the main tributaries of the Rio Grande, entering the river near Bernardo. Learn more about this watershed here.

Create your own map, showing the Rio Puerco in relation to major roads and rivers, and to state, federal and Native American lands. Click here for Enviromapper.

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