Kristin Swanton – shares a ‘Day of Archaeology’ (07/25/13)

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Kristin Swanton, MA RPA
Archaeologist at URS Corporation

ARCHAEOLOGY FOR THE I-95 PROJECT

Fieldwork for the I-95 highway expansion project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), has been going on for several years now and in various phases of research. Thus, this project requires our crew (from the cultural resources division of URS Corporation, Burlington, New Jersey, USA) to work year-round and in all types of environmental conditions. Work for the I-95 project starts bright and early at 7AM when our crew gathers on site. For the past several days I have been working with 2-3 other crew members excavating an unusually large 5’ x 7’ test unit. This unit straddles a historical period rock wall foundation that is likely associated with a 20th century domestic structure. Adjacent units have revealed both historical and prehistoric artifacts from fill as well as intact soil layers. Today we were hoping to learn more about the interior of the historical era building as well as understand the relationship between our prehistoric artifacts and ones found in surrounding excavation units. While I was digging, the remaining crew members were screening for artifacts. The soil was very compact and required time and patience completing both activities. Screened artifacts were placed in plastic bags that were labeled with their corresponding location information. Thus far, no unique artifacts were found today, but there is still more work to be done tomorrow and research questions to be addressed!


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