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A quick visual survey of the river prior to the students'
and teachers' arrival identified the best area for investigation and the site€™s
land-based archeological grid was extended over the Firehole River. Numbered pin
flags marked prospective transect margins on each river bank every 5 m grid
north.
At the start of each day, fieldworkers stretched ropes
across the river from flagged points to create 5 m wide inventory transects.
Boundary ropes were divided into 5 m intervals using large and highly visible
yellow plastic ear tags commonly used to mark cattle. |
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With the corridor established, the crew was divided into two
survey teams. Each team incorporated a least one archeologist, 5 high school students,
and one high school teacher. A graduate student participated in the inventory
and worked with students as the survey took place. An undergraduate volunteer
participated as a crew member and documented the work with a digital camera.
Survey teams worked in lines from opposite ends of a
transect. Artifacts were located using Plexiglas-bottomed buckets, snorkel
masks, or simply by feeling the bottom for objects. Teams had a data recorder
for a each transect with volunteers rotated through this position. Data for each
transect included crew names, inventory date, transect number, distance of
object from the east bank, object name, manufacturer's markings or product
markings, and notes if an object was photographed or collected.
Artifacts were returned to the river after documentation
except where they had potential value for public interpretation or were
considered collectable. A few with manufacturers marks requiring additional
research were also collected. Collected artifacts are cleaned and stabilized
using special methods developed especially for object recovered from the
Firehole River's thermal and highly mineralized environment. Once analysis is
completed and reports are prepared, these artifacts will be returned to
Yellowstone National Park for permanent curation |
