We were a small crew today since the high school students weren’t working, so we concentrated on the Ipiutak area. It was fairly tricky to excavate, since there is unconsolidated gravel under the Wood/sand/gravel layer that covers the Ipiutak surface, and a large pile of unconsolidated gravel uphill from the features. Plus the hearth ash is covered with a mushy skin of peat, and both the hearth surface and the peat undulate. Despite that, we recovered 2 fin rays, some burnt bone, a pot-lidded flake (probably rhyolite), a grey chert flake, and a black biface fragment from the hearth. We also got some large ungulate (species in dispute at the moment–probably caribou) bone, and a small fragment of decorated ivory, plus several interesting pieces of wood, which appear to be worked.
It was quite cold. Even though we had a windbreak, the levels are just thawing, and the ground is cold and wet. My hands are still stiff, so more will have to wait until tomorrow.
Out of Ice and Time 