Site Preparation

Friday, August 17, 2012

Sarah, Dave and Holmes joined Jim North of William Penn University and Farmer John at 3:00 PM to look at the site in preparation for a dig on Sunday, August 19. We found water in the pit and noted that there are still areas in the west end of the Discovery Pit that need to be examined, especially since bone has continually been found deeper than expected. The drainage ditch was cleaned and water began to slowly flow out of the excavation area.  John plans to deepen the channel before we arrive on Sunday. He has the keys to the Titan Machinery backhoe and will cut the bench above the Discovery Pit floor down to within 1.5 feet of the bone bearing deposits.  This will give the volunteers two main areas to excavate on Sunday. Jason Madison and Maureen McKamey from Communication Research Institute (CRI), the William Penn University affiliated television news station, filmed site preparation activities as well as the scapulae from both mammoths. The program should air Friday, August 24. The Iowa City group left the site about 6 PM.