Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Today Mary got to try the Total Station, a machine that can track where the artifacts are found in the lot! Tim did some more sifting (his speciality)! 

The Total Station get triangulated each morning to known points and then is able to pinpoint the location of each artifact to within a few millimeters.  The team is then able to create a 3-D map of the site and the artifacts.  Pretty cool stuff...

It was another long day but it went really quickly.  Mares is staying out of the way of the Total Station laser in this photo....


After you finish excavating a lot you are interviewed about it- how many artifacts, what the sediment was like, any unique features.  Mares and Bakara closed out a plot and were interviewed by Rachel.  Tonight the team is going back at midnight to excavate a few key artifacts which will be wrapped in tinfoil and shipped to a lab that has developed a way to tell when the last time was that sunlight hit quartz and quartzite....they are hoping that this will prove without doubt - as they strongly believe- that these are 300,000 year old stone tools and some of the first evidence of planned stone carving and shaping...that technique would be a first as well...

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8 comments:

  1. Ms. BougieJuly 16, 2019 at 1:34 PM

    this is so cool! this is mom/ AL (left over name from my old blog!!)

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    Replies
    1. Tim LordJuly 17, 2019 at 6:32 AM

      was wondering who it was... Love you mom! -Mary

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  2. UnknownJuly 16, 2019 at 2:24 PM

    Mares and Tim. This is honestly my favorite topic in the world! This new technique sounds so interesting. You are making history! Well done. Mares I am glad you are keeping Dad busy with sifting...

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  3. DeirdreJuly 16, 2019 at 2:43 PM

    This looks SOOO amazing!! I love what you’re doing. I also love that you’re being careful about the sun!

    What was it like to find that tool? Did you know immediately that it was a human tool? I can’t imagine how exciting that must have been!! Love you sooo much.

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    1. Tim LordJuly 17, 2019 at 6:20 AM

      We knew it was a human tool mostly because the team was informing us! But sometimes you could see a few "retouches" on the tool! - Mary

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  4. BlythJuly 16, 2019 at 2:56 PM

    Mares - I am laughing partially that your mom's blog name is Ms. Bougie! I remember that. And what was your dad -- my fair husband? Something like that. Anyway, on to something MUCH more important -- this is all very very cool -- including that you have to remove the artifact in the dark so it isn't tainted by 2019 sun. I am learning a lot by reading this. Thank you!

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  5. TenneyJuly 16, 2019 at 4:30 PM

    Hi
    Mary and Tim. I just got the blog.
    Will read and write later
    Love love

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  6. TenneyJuly 16, 2019 at 5:30 PM

    Mary and Tim my students read a story (real) about a special tribe in the desert that helps dig out fossils of a dinosaur that gets packed up and labeled for the Natural History museum in Chicago. Your work and exploration sounds similar. So cool! It was a chapter on paleontology. The dig happened in Niger. Is that near you? The Touareg tribe helped the paleontologists.

    I'll send you the story when school starts if you want.

    Have the most amazing time
    I look forward to reading more.

    ReplyDelete

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