Water Logged

Day 31: Closing the MONTANA Site

By Chris Valvano (10/03/02)

Sam finishing his map.

 Today, the ECU crew stepped foot on the MONTANA for the last time. Although we have been on the road for several weeks now, we managed to work quickly, and finish one day earlier than planned. The task for today was to finish a few odds-and-ends, to remove the baseline, and to re-bury the parts of the ship we exposed.
During the morning hours, most of the crew finished mapping the remaining portions of the wreck. The primary rudder, which was dredged yesterday, needed to be re-examined to double check a few measurements. Unfortunately, heavy rainstorms up river, raised the water level on site, submerging even more of the rudder than yesterday. At first the crew attempted to use broken chunks of old sewer pipe and river clay to construct a crude earthen dam around the rudder, but the Missouri prevailed, as nothing could prevent the river from covering the rudder. The crew finally took the need measurements, despite the muck.

 

Dr. Corbin and Andy taking measurements for Sam.

Andy checking some submerged structural pieces.

 After lunch the crew began the process of "closing the site". The removal of the baseline, which was setup on the very first day, marks the symbolic end to a project. Once the baseline was removed, the final task was to bury all the portions of the wreck that we exposed. Burying the exposed portions of a site, called "backfilling," is a common practice in archaeology. A site is backfilled mainly to lessen the effects of weather damage to the wreck, but also to preserve the original appearance of site. After the final shovel of dirt, the ECU crew packed up their equipment for the last time, and concluded the fieldwork on the MONTANA. This has truly been a great site to work, and top-notch crew to work with. Even though the ECU students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, they have molded into a proficient band of archaeologists. They always find a way to accomplish their research goals, and work with a level of professionalism that is unmatched. There is no surprise that our all our goals were completed; with a crew like ours, one could hardly call this work.