SEPTEMBER 25, 2004

From: Beld, Scott
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004
To: Oxbow Archaeologists
Subject: Ponton Site - September 25, 2004

Hi Oxbow Archaeologists,

We made it out to the Ponton site yesterday and had a good day excavating even though it was cloudy and threatened rain a couple times. John O., Marianne, Frances, Kevin, and I made it out. Tammy Bray (a professor at Wayne State University) brought her archaeology class to the site for a visit as part of a field trip. They stopped by early in the afternoon. We worked on Feature 5 and excavated three plow zone units (see Map - September 25, 2004 in the photo gallery below).

Feature 5, 515R497. I finished this section of the feature, drew profiles, and backfilled the feature for the winter (see Photo 1).

522R498. John, Frances, Marianne, and Kevin excavated this unit. The usual types of material including decorated earthenware (see Photo 6). The dark gray stain that contained the grit-tempered pottery last week extended into this unit.

522R497. John, Frances, Marianne, and Kevin excavated this unit. The usual artifacts were found (see Photo 7) as well as two pressed glass fragments (see Photo 9), pipe fragments (Photo 8), and an “Agate” or “Prosser Patent” button (Marianne found the button – it’s the first one she found - see Photo 2). The button actually dates after the Ponton occupation – the process for making these buttons was patented in 1840 and they become very common in the 1840’s on sites. There was a rectangular stain that is probably a historic postmold and another stain that may be a prehistoric feature in this unit.

522R496. John and I excavated this unit. In addition to the usual artifacts (see Photo 10), we found pipe fragments (Photo 11), bolts (Photo 13), a pin (Photo 12), and part of a bottle base (Photo 14). There is a dark gray square stain in the northeast corner extending into the next unit that is probably a historic postmold (see Photo 3).

I’ll be posting additional pictures of artifacts and the excavations on the website again this week so be sure to check the September 25, 2004 webpage (see Photo 4 and Photo 5)!

I went to the Michigan Archaeological Society Executive Board meeting this morning and there are several things to report. First, the Cater Site preliminary report is at the printer and should be done in about ten days! Second, our date for the Fall Workshop next year is set and I also reported that we will be doing another field workshop – the dates are…
    Field Workshop – Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, 2005 I’ll do an introduction to archaeology, our project and introduce field techniques at the Ponton site. Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19, 2005 Terry Martin will do workshop on faunal identification (Saturday morning-early afternoon) and on Sunday will dig with us in the field. On Saturday evening (18th) Terry will also give a talk on excavations at New Philadelphia, Illinois – a site that is contemporary with Ponton and Cater (take a look at this website http://www.heritage.umd.edu/CHRSWeb/New%20Philadelphia/NewPhiladelphia.htm ).
    MAS Fall Workshop – Sunday, October 23, 2005. We will host and put on the fall workshop next year. The program will be talks on the Ponton site project in the morning and demonstrations of traditional skills in the afternoon (by Kyle and Dennis).

This Wednesday, we’ll do lab work as usual. Next Saturday (October 2) is Archaeology Day at the State Museum in Lansing. John and I will be going to the State Museum with a display and I’ll be giving a talk on the Ponton site in the afternoon. I think most everyone else has other commitments so we probably won’t do excavation or lab work next Saturday. We will return to Ponton the following Saturday (October 9).

Hope to see you at the site.

Scott

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Scott G. Beld
Research Associate II
The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
1109 Geddes Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079
Phone: 734-764-0489 (UMMP Main Office)
            734-763-9253 (My Office)
Fax:     734-936-1380
Email: sbeld@umich.edu
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