annual report: wind wolves 2016 field school · the 2016 season of the wind wolves field school was...
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ANNUALREPORT:WINDWOLVES2016FIELDSCHOOLDirector(s): DavidW.Robinson,UniversityofCentralLancashireCo-Director(s): JulienneBernard,EastLosAngelesCollege
The2016seasonoftheWindWolvesFieldSchoolwasrewardingandproductive,bothintermsofaccomplishingourresearchgoalsandachievingpedagogicalsuccesses.Thisyearweworkedwith11excellentfieldschoolstudentsfromtheUSandtheUK,andconductedexcavationatseveralareaswithinCacheCaveaswellasattheRunawayCamplocationintheSanEmigdioCanyon.Workingattheseplacesenabledustodevelopourunderstandingoftheuseofthecaveandtofurtherbuildourregionalunderstandingoftheuseofbedrockmortars.
Insidethecave,weexcavatedover20unitsinordertoremovetheremainingportionsofthecavedeposits.Thisincludedareasadjacenttothetrenchexcavatedinapreviousseason,thechuteportionofthecave,andthecrevice.Wefoundmanyofthesametypeofperishableitemsthathadbeenrecoveredinpreviousseasons,aswellasafewnewitems.Oneofthemostexcitingdiscoverieswasalargesectionofnetting:wehadrecoveredsmallknotsandportionsofnetinthepast,sothislargefindbroughtfruitiontothosesmalldiscoveries.Wecontinuedtofindsmallpiecesofbasketry,aswellassomeitemsmadefromreedslashedtogether.Wealsorecoveredawovenitemofgrassthatwespeculatemayhavebeenafragmentofasandal.Thisseasonweachievedgreatstridesinsidethecaveindocumentation,successfullylaserscanningthecaveschambersandtheobjectsfoundwithin.
AtRunawayCamp,wesoughttosupplementtheworkinthegeneralmiddenareasthatwasconductedaspartofDr.Bernard’sdissertationresearch.Weopenedaunitadjacenttothebedrockmortarthatislocatedontheeasternoutskirtsofthesite.Asthesolebedrockmortarinthisportionofthecanyon,andthenearesttothehistoricvillageofTashlipun,thisexcavation
enabledustoevaluatethetimingoftheuseofthisBRMandassesswhetheritwasusedduringtheprecolonialoccupationofthesites.Wefoundveryfewartifactsoverall,butwedidrecovertwoglassbeads,whichenabledustoconfirmahistoricperioduseoftheBRM.Giventheshallownessoftheculturalmaterials,webelievethattheBRMwasusedprimarilyduringthehistoriceraandthusreflectstemporalvariabilityinthebasicactivitiesperformedatthesites.Thisseason’sexcavationatRunawayCampwillalsoarticulatewiththeexcavationsatBRMsthatwehaveperformedaspartoftheEnculturatingEnvironmentsproject.Now,wecanbetterincorporatethissiteintotheregionaldatacollectedoverthelast10years.OurnextgoalistobeginthewriteupofthecaveandintegrateitintoamonographontheEmigdianoChumashregionbasedonoursharedresearchendeavorsoverthelastdecade.
Inall,ourseasonwasproductiveandenjoyableinmanyways.Someofusmadediscoveriesweneverdreamedof.Someofusovercamelongheldfears.Wesawendangeredspeciesandotheranimalsthatfewpeoplewilleverseeinnature.Welearnedtousestate-of-the-artarchaeologicaltechnologyaswellasthetechniquesarchaeologistshavereliedonfordecades.Wemadenewfriends,frombothclosetohomeandacrosstheAtlantic.Wealllearnedandgrewasarchaeologistsandindeed,aspeople,anditwasanunforgettableexperienceforallofus,staffandstudentsalike.