2025.02.14
The following afternoon, test excavation began at TB-3.
TB-2 lay in an open area in front of the cave entrance.
TB-3 lay directly adjacent to it and extended farther into the cave.
The surveyors checked the reference points.
They used stakes and string to lay out small excavation units.
At many excavation sites, exposed stratigraphy resembles a slice through a layer cake.
TB-2 was no different.
The uppermost layer was topsoil.
Below it was a layer associated with burials.
Beneath that was an older layer of natural sediment.
The excavation staff gradually removed the topsoil.
Each time they exposed more of the layer, they cleaned the newly exposed surface.
They photographed it.
Then they recorded the depth and position of any finds.
Andrea, the unit supervisor, recorded the measurements.
She also kept the artifact bags in numerical order.
Mercer asked where the sherd recovered the previous day had been found.
Andrea checked her records and gave her the exact location.
A stratigraphic layer on the TB-3 side extended a short distance across the boundary into TB-2.
The sherd had been recovered from that layer.
Mercer crouched in front of the exposed stratigraphic section.
She looked into the dim interior of the cave, tracing the layer toward TB-3.
“First, let’s find out how far this layer extends.”