June 5th 2019 - We're in the News!

Today was a short day in the field for some, and a day where you worked in the lab or from home for others. Many students spent the majority of the day working on their projects that have to be finished in two weeks! Time is flying by so quickly, and it is hard to believe that our field school is almost over.

Yesterday, I created a list of all of the level bags from the McKenzie Creek site with ceramics and bottle/lantern glass in them using reports from previous years. Bob printed that list out so students who need glass or ceramics for their project can go and find pieces in level bags from previous years. Phoenix was in the lab today working on his project of figuring out a minimum number of bottles on the McKenzie Creek site, and he used the list to find bottle glass in bags that date all the way back to 2004.

Phoenix looking at bottle glass from level bags. Photo by Nikki.

Harman was also in the lab again to work on the master list of artifacts in our collection. She has been working so hard by looking through every artifact list from the McKenzie Creek site, and checking to see if we still have all the artifacts in our collection. She will be creating a digital list with over 800 artifacts on it, and stating whether they are stored in the lab, another location, or if they are missing. When Harman is done, it will be very easy for Bob and others to find artifacts from the McKenzie Creek site!

Harman creating the master artifact list. Photo by Nikki. 

Sepideh is also working very hard on the video. Yesterday Bob and her talked for quite a while about the voice over that will be in the video to make sure she includes all of the important and interesting facts about the McKenzie Creek site. It will be a short animated video that will be fun for everybody to watch. As soon as it is complete, I will be linking it on the blog so that all of you can enjoy it!

If you are interested, and haven't had the chance to check out what projects students are working on this field season, you can read all about them here!

Bob, Nikki, Shaunti and Laura Ng from Stanford were all in the field today. The North Shore News also came to visit the site, and get some pictures for an article on the Seymour Valley Archaeology Project. Last year, an article was published on Bob and the project, which you can read by clicking here. Once Bob decided to run another field school, the North Shore News showed interest in writing another article. The reporter is Brent Richter who you can check out on twitter here. The photographer with him is Mike Wakefield who took some wonderful shots of the site, and also filmed a few clips of Bob as he discussed the ofuro and a couple of our open excavation units. Make sure to keep an eye out on the North Shore News for the article which will most likely be coming out in July.

Mike taking pictures of Bob with the ofuro. Photo by Nikki.

Bob talking with Mike and Brent on the cedar plank road. Photo by Nikki.

Laura, Shaunti and Nikki also helped display artifacts for the North Shore News, so they could see what has been found on site in the past.

Displayed Artifacts. Photo by Nikki.

Bob gave the media a ride back to the parking lot once they were finished, and dismissed the students who were working in the field. Nikki walked all the way back to Capilano University to spend time taking photos of artifacts found at the Suicide Creek camp. She walked about 11 kilometres from the McKenzie Creek site to the lab!

Bowls from the Suicide Creek site. Photo by Nikki.

A bowl from the Suicide Creek site. Photo by Nikki.

Tomorrow students will be back in the field once more to possibly finish up excavations. We are all hoping for dry weather, and to find some cool artifacts. See you tomorrow!