June 6th 2019 - And Then There Were Six.

Today was the last day of excavation in the field. Only six students hiked into the field today, while all others worked in the lab. Many began writing and drawing up reports for their final projects in the classroom, while students in the field focused more on finishing up excavations. On the McKenzie Creek site, we have a total of 7 open units. We wanted to be able to close all of them today, but before they're closed, we made sure the unit hit a sterile layer. When a unit is sterile, it means there is no more evidence of culture such as nails or glass. In the morning, Nikki, Karoline, Mitch and I took our buckets and trowels to our excavation units to get as much done as possible. Aza continued to work on her cedar plank road project, while Alyssa spent time measuring and finishing up sketches on the ofuro.

Mitch sifting dirt in a beam of light. Photo by Nikki. 

Nikki found a rock feature in her unit last week, and she spent a couple of days excavating around it. Today she had the chance to remove the rock feature from her unit, and surprisingly she found the tops of some bottles underneath it. She mentioned that they are likely the tops to bottles that she found a few days ago in the unit. She also got to remove some cans that Sepideh found in the unit next to hers, so that we could close it.

In the eastern units, Mitch found the cap of a tube of toothpaste 40cm below the pit datum. While he was sifting through the dirt from that area, he also found the rest of the tube rolled up in a tight cylinder. He also managed to find a complete aqua glass bottle with the stopper buried 60cm below the pit datum in his unit. He was on a roll today!

Top of a tube of toothpaste found by Mitch.

Bottle found by Mitch.

Karoline and I found almost 100 nails between 20cm and the sterile layer in our 2 by 2 meter unit. We also found an incomplete file, some broken pieces of glass and a large metal bolt with the nut still attached.

Four eastern units.

We also had some guests visit us in the morning. Lisa Uyeda and Trevor Wideman from the Nikkei Museum and Archives came by to visit the site. Bob was very excited to talk to them about what has been found on the site, and the insight they had to offer.

Bob, Lisa and Trevor looking at artifacts.

Lisa provided extremely useful thoughts about what may have been happening at the camp, such as it being mainly for women and children while the men travelled to work in the surrounding valley area. There is another Japanese camp about 4km away from the McKenzie Creek site that was shown to be occupied by mostly males, which fits perfectly with her suggestion. She also explained to Bob about how the Japanese prepared for internment, by telling him what items people would choose to take with them, and what they would decide to leave behind. If you want to follow her on twitter you can do so here. Trevor has been working with documents that were recently donated to the Nekkei Museum that belong to Tadashi (Jack) Kagetsu, who was the son of the person who established the McKenzie Creek camp. Bob was pleased when Trevor told him that he had letters and emails that were made between Bob and Tadashi before his death about 10 years ago. If you want to follow Trevor on twitter you can do that here.

After our lunch break, everyone went back to excavating with the exception of Aza, who continued to finish up her measurements of the cedar plank road. Alyssa joined us in the eastern units, finishing up excavating what was previously Phoenix's unit. She found a few nails and bits of glass along with a large piece of barrel ring.

Overall the day went quite well and we got lucky with sunny weather once again! Bob said that this is one of the driest field seasons he has ever had in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, with a record of only ONE day of rain so far! On Monday we will all be in the lab, and everyone will be jumping into their projects to try and get them done.

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!

June 4th 2019 - Nails Galore!

Today we had an amazing day on site with wonderful weather! A few students spent the day in the lab, but most were at the McKenzie Creek site working on their projects, and in our seven open excavation units.

Students working in their excavation units and sifting dirt.

Students in the lab had time to work on their projects. Kirsten spent time identifying and researching some of the plants found at the McKenzie Creek site, and Rohan continued to research buttons and clasps from the artifact collection.

At the McKenzie Creek site, most spent their time in excavation units with the exception of Aza and Fazila. The two of them worked on the cedar plank road to try and uncover the remaining planks while the weather was still nice. They uncovered 13 planks today, adding up to a total of 38 on site. Aza suspects there to be a couple more hidden closer to the creek on the north side of camp, but she will go back soon to access the situation. Siobhan and Shaunti worked in a tough excavation unit with many roots today, finding one nail in the afternoon.

Siobhan working in her unit and Bob helping students measure in the background.

On the other hand, Mitch found almost 200 nails in his unit today. Allyah and I also found almost 40 nails ranging from very small to very large, and in both Mitch and our units, we found charred wooden planks. The wooden planks in my unit were 10cm below the site datum, while Mitch found his about 20cm below. I also found a few shards of glass, some being from a lantern and others from bottles. Bob gave Mitch the nickname "Nails" due to his large find today!

Mitch and his bag filled with nails.

We had one visitor with us all day. Laura Ng is a PhD student from Stanford University who is studying Asian American communities. Recently she travelled to China to compare and link home communities there to Chinatowns in California. Bob gave her a tour around the site, and she gave students advice on their excavations. She answered all of our questions with enthusiasm and excitement! You can check her out on twitter here!

Karoline was absent today due to an injury, but we still collected all of our project and lunch garbage. She will be working in the lab tomorrow and will be able to add it to her catalogue then.

Our Garbage for the day. Photo by Nikki.

Tomorrow a few of us will be working in the field, but most students will be working in the lab or from home. We are hoping for good weather tomorrow, but the forecast calls for rain. You can find out if we get soaked on the blog post tomorrow!

June 3rd 2019 - A Great Start to the Month!

Today 6 students worked in the lab while the rest continued their work at the McKenzie Creek site. Harman, Fazila, Angus, Allyah, Siobhan and I met in the lab and worked on term projects. Fazila took pictures and measurements of ceramics from the Suicide Creek site, Harman continued to catalogue all artifacts from McKenzie Creek, and Angus continued to work on his projects on lantern glass and barrel rings. Allyah and Siobhan were researching artifacts found by previous field school students such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, early 20th century battery cores, and the Japanese game Go. I spent the day going through all of the past level bag reports on the McKenzie Creek site, and compiled lists of what excavation units bottle glass, lantern glass, window glass and ceramics were found in.

Students working in the lab today.

While all of that hard work was being done in the lab, students in the field had the chance to continue excavating previously opened units, open new units, and work on their projects. With only a little over two weeks left in our field school, we are trying to finish up excavations by the end of this week so students have the chance to finish their projects on time. Aza is 2/3rds of the way through measuring and describing the cedar plank road. Today she found a plank underneath a tree that was so well preserved that it she could see the original saw marks in a straight line! So far she has found 28 planks, and she says there are less than 45 on the entire stretch of the McKenzie Creek site. Most of the planks are on the northern side of the site, near the rock feature that Mitch is doing his project on.

The cedar plank road, flags mark planks. Photo by Aza.

Alyssa is continuing to work on sketching and measuring the ofuro. Last week she excavated a small portion on the south side to see if she could find anything, and she found multiple pieces of metal and glass. Today she mostly worked on sketches of the east wall to prepare for her final report.

Alyssa working at the ofuro. Photo by Aza.

Many students also continued to excavate their units, Rohan and Shaunti found a Canadian quarter while screening the dirt 1-2cm below the surface which was super cool! It dates to 1974.

Quarter found by Rohan and Shaunti. Photo by Bob.

One man who ran into some students on the paved path was telling them that about 40 years ago he looted the site, and Bob thinks that the quarter may have fallen out of his pocket then. Bob says that others have told him about looting the site in the past, but it is suspected that it was all done on the surface.

Two new excavation units were created beside the ones that were opened last week. The four units in that area have released dozens of nails, one complete and one incomplete file, a fragment from a cosmetic jar and another fragment of ceramics. A lot of bottle and lantern glass was also found in the units. 

Karoline holding items found in the units behind her. Photo by Bob.

We also had a couple of visitors on site today, one being Naomi Yamamoto, a Canadian politician who was the first person of Japanese ancestry to be elected as a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. She was in office from 2009 to 2017 for the North Vancouver-Lonsdale riding. You can read more about her accomplishments here and check out her twitter here. She tweeted about her experience at the McKenzie Creek site today. She got a site tour from Bob and also got to view some ceramic and glass artifacts from previous years.

Naomi Yamamoto next to ofuro. Photo by Bob.

Bob's wife Victoria, and youngest daughter Anna also had to chance to visit today, and all of the students loved meeting them. Anna got the chance to excavate at McKenzie Creek back in 2013 while she was still in high school. I'm sure it was fun to come back after all of that time and see what has changed since then.

Overall the day went really well and we will be back in the field tomorrow for some more excavating. Hopefully we will have another day without rain, and we will find more cool things to add to our artifact collection. See you tomorrow!