June 19th 2019 - Atlatl Party!

Today started off with a couple of students showing up in the lab and three others meeting Bob at the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve parking lot.

The students who met in the parking lot were given a map showing the location of the Hastings/Seymour camp from 2010. A few years after excavations, there was a large flood and rock slide that swept right through the location of the site. Bob explained to us that the camp may not even still be there, but he wanted to try and find it using the map and his memory of the location. Unfortunately when we got to the entrance of the trail it was closed off for construction. We were very disappointed that we were not able to find the camp today, but hopefully Bob will relocate it someday in the future.  All students who were in the LSCR went back to the lab to work on projects.

In the classroom, everyone was working on something different. Most people were finishing up their reports to hand in tomorrow. I finished all of my papers yesterday so I helped a few students by proofreading their reports.

Aza finished up her report on the cedar plank road and colour coded her digital renderings. She will have over a dozen different digital maps of the cedar plank road, showing it in multiple scales. There are a total of 47 planks on the McKenzie Creek site that span a length of 82 meters.

The complete cedar plank road. Digital rendering by Aza.

In the afternoon, all of the students working in the lab joined Bob on the field behind the sportsplex at Capilano University to throw spears using an atlatl (spear thrower/ arm extender), and learned how to make tools with stone in the lab. Every student had a few chances to throw a spear with the atlatl, and most students threw it pretty far! 

Bob throwing a spear with an atlatl.

The "Atlatl" field at Capilano University. 

Rohan setting up for a throw.

Once everyone was happy with their spear throws, we went back to the lab to make tools out of obsidian with stone. Bob demonstrated how to create flakes with a piece of obsidian and a rock, and all students had the opportunity to try it.

Bob showing us how to make obsidian tools.

Students making flakes.

Sharp edge of obsidian that I removed from a larger piece.

He also showed us some examples of tools that can be made with obsidian flakes. 

Example of a knife.

Example of a tool used for scraping.

The day was filled with fun activities, and we are all sad that the field school is coming to an end tomorrow. All students will be making a short presentation on their projects, and we will be handing in our final reports. Make sure to read tomorrow's post for final updates!