In taking an internship at the Gault Project Laboratory for the fall of 2011, I have witnessed first-hand the care and attention used in the preparation of analysis of artifacts excavated from the site. The executive director of the lab, Dr. Clark Wernecke, instructed me in general procedures and initial processing of the lot bags from the field.
The Gault project site covers a large archaeological area, approximately 800 x 200 meters, where an abundance of evidence provides proof of human occupation during the Historic, Prehistoric, Archaic, and Paleoindian periods of history dating all the way back to 12,000 years ago. The area Gault occupies includes a constricted head of a valley, a small stream where natural springs flow, and an excellent source of chert that would prove to be invaluable to our human ancestors as a material useful in the production of stone tools.
For the first step in processing the materials, I would start off by washing up a lot bag (or bags associated with that number) of artifacts and debitage. A lot number will have a four-digit number and from one to several bags of that same number from the same lot. In processing, you take the lot number that is next in sequential order. I would then take the bags and the tools I used to the drying table in the wash area. The tools included a fresh drying screen (one that has fresh newspaper spread out on the mesh and no previous debris on it), a toothbrush, a colander, and a wash tub. Over the course of the internship, I preferred to work with certain tools so I would try to use those each time if not already in use. I would put the colander into the wash tub and fill both of these with warm water in the sink. I would pour out part of the contents of a bag into the warm water to soak for a few minutes before starting to softly brush away excess grime with a soft toothbrush. As I cleaned the pieces, I would lay them all out on a drying screen in order from biggest to smallest and have an area where I put aside special pieces like projectile point fragments, bone, shells, or anything that looked unusual or possibly was a fragment from a tool. We also do not wash bone, charcoal, limestone, ground stone, shells, or anything labeled “Do not wash,” so these items would be put aside as well. For me, arranging the pieces by size was a way to more easily see biface fragments, point fragments, flake fragments or pieces of shell and bone that had not already been separated. Both Dr. Wernecke and Dr. Collins would visit my screens and pick out special flakes or fragments that would need to be bagged and labeled in further processing. As time went by, I noticed other volunteers and interns started to arrange their screens by size or had some order to them as well.
The next step in processing is to sort and count all of the pieces associated with a lot number, however many items this may be. I had Dr. Wernecke sit down with me to explain how to sort it all out and into what categories, such as angular chert, debitage, worked pieces such as bifaces, flakes, projectile points, tool fragments, bone fragments, shell, and rocks. Any individually tagged items would be labeled and numbered with information recorded from the site data. All of the pieces had to be counted so that all information can be accurately logged on a “Lot Number Index/Specimen Inventory” sheet and TARL (Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory) slips. TARL slips are filled out and bagged with individual items such as bifaces, unifaces, projectile point fragments, bone and shell.
I addressed with Dr. Wernecke the fact that there were terms in the manual with no definitions or descriptions given, and was given permission to make updates and changes to the lab glossary and manual to help benefit future volunteers and interns that work at the lab.
With all of the time I spent at the Gault Lab, I made a great deal of progress in understanding what goes on in the processing of materials and how handling these steps with care is important. I have also learned a great deal through hands-on involvement and enjoyed all of the processes and discoveries along the way.