Back to Where it All Began

Back when I was in college, long before blogging existed, I took a class in archaeology. It was a new course being offered at Trenton State College, and became my first experience with archaeology. Over fifteen weeks we were tasked learning how to conduct archaeology around the William Green House, a 1720 home built originally owned by the William Green and his family. I feel like we met once a week for a double session on Wednesdays. Given the time it took to walk en masse from Don C. Bliss Hall to the site, we probably only spent an hour actually digging. Perhaps on rainy days we spent some time learning about what we were doing, and time spent afterwards processing our finds. I can't even remember if this was a fall or a spring semester class. I just remember the joy of playing in the dirt. 

Today I returned to the site to dig. The College was hosting an open house and public dig. I think the intention was to show grade school children the joy of archaeology, but Don's friend Dan and I brought our trowels and other tools and went with the intention of digging. Despite my forgetting how to dig (it has been a few years since I've filled a bucket with dirt rather than helping Tim with metal detecting), we were quickly deemed professional archaeologists. I told anyone who would listen, and others whose eyes glazed over, that I got my start right over there. They politely moved my hand to the south to show where the earliest digs took place. Whatever! The space just beyond the house is now covered in a bamboo forest and there is a fence surrounding the house making it look even more fragile than it did in the early 1990's. A few years ago lawyers made the College board up the entrances, but I still remember the rotting floorboards and walls covered in layers of peeling wallpaper.

I walked around the fence and sat in the pit closest to the house. Ajax, a green-
haired sophomore finishing her summer archaeology class, was slowly digging away at the dirt in her (sorry, their) six foot square. They are thinking about adding a concentration in archaeology to their double major in history and anthropology. As a former history major, I wondered what the debate was. They were concerned about not landing a job in archaeology. Like history and anthropology are teeming with job offers? Evidently the current history professors help their students land jobs in their fields. I also learned my alma mater offers a concentration in library science. I really should have been a student a couple of decades later. I guess I was ahead of my time.

Dan and his charming daughter Gwen joined our pit when theirs became too crowded. Gwen was a great sport. 

The best finds are always at the end of the day. Gwen's eagle eye spotted some glazed pottery. With that, we then found some tinier pieces of the same. As we said our goodbyes to Professor George we learned the site is being closed up for two years so they can process what they have found. Bummer. Dan and I were already plotting to return each weekend to help dig. Other than what was found today (mostly nails and other building materials, and a bunch of worms), the other finds have been washed and are ready to be studied. Unlike in my day, George teaches three classes in archaeology. There are independent studies and Capstones (the latter was not part of my undergraduate experience). Students graduate with a deeper understanding of archaeology.  

Now I want to go upstairs and see if I saved my notes from that class! I'm enough of a packrat there is a chance they are there in the plastic light blue egg crate I purchased from the 1990s equivalent of Bed, Bath, and Beyond to use in my dorm room because plastic accessories were in at the time, at least a decade before Pinterest launched to show me how I should have been decorating my cinderblock walled room.

Two more stories of note:

1) My trowel was scooped up during clean up. This led me to the storage shed they have on site. That is a great addition!

2) I met an Ohio man who was a career archaeologist in Montana. Nearly a decade ago he retired at age 60 after 25 years with a full pension. I'm in awe. Now he is pushing 70 and looks about my age.