Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
We finished digging today. Tomorrow I'll take a few more charcoal samples and return the tools to the units that lent them to me. The dig closes eight days earlier than planned.
A week and a half of digging has identified the following phases on site, none of which were known to us beforehand:
- Scattered lithics, knapped
and then abraded by wave action on a beach. Mainly quartz, some hälleflinta/leptite,a little flint,one chip off a ground greenstone axe. Also a complete greenstone adze that permits us to date the assemblage to the Middle Neolithic about 3000 cal BC, but more likely the Late Mesolithic about 4500 cal BC, say the experts.
- Many functionally anonymous pits, many hearths and a few postholes, all probably dating from the centuries around AD 1. Radiocarbon will tell. The only identifiable structure among them is a line of six apparent fence posts. No datable artefacts.
- Some 19th and 20th century refuse pits.
[More blog entries about archaeology,, Sweden; arkeologi, Östergötland, Linköping.]
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
What happened? Did you find some alien artefact and the state came and closed you down? Or a cache of buried nazi gold? Or was it just that the site just not as exciting as anticipated?
Posted by: paddy | September 25, 2008 3:03 AM
Just have to cross that area off from your to-dig-list and hit another one next time around. Where, in relation to the mound and lake, did you dig?
Posted by: Tobias | September 25, 2008 11:31 AM
Paddy: the lattermost.
Tobias: on the ridge summit line between the mound and the lake.
Posted by: Martin R | September 25, 2008 11:41 AM
i think you've got yourself a healing spa just like they found at stonehenge.
Posted by: megan | September 29, 2008 1:25 PM