Preparing for the 2017 Field School

I visited the O.T. Tyler house this weekend to do some shovel-testing. The results of the shovel tests will be used to help determine where we will excavate for the field school. It was a beautiful day so the hours flew by and I was able to get some great photos with my phone even though some of them may be a bit hazy and smudged. 

This is a remnant of one of the walls where you can see the way the stones were stacked. The materials were quarried nearby. 

This is a closeup of a fireplace hearth on the first floor where you can see how the flue was built into the stacked stone and snakes upward. 

This wall is missing most of the second floor portion. The hole would have originally housed a beam to support the second story floor. 

In the corners you can see some of the remaining stucco-like finish that would have been applied to the outside of the building to cover the stacked stones.

Innovation 1: Small shovel holding up one end of the shaker screen. 

Innovation 2: This wooden dowel with a rare earth magnet on the end easily attracts nails in the screen dirt. 

Tyler house: April 15, 2017

Can't wait to get out there for the field school!