We hand-washed the larger bits and pieces and put them in the screen trays to dry. Each section of the screen tray had the cloth bag's tag pinned to it so that we would know which stuff came from which square.
The lady sitting down in the first picture was my bunkmate, but for the life of me I can't remember her name...
Washing the artifacts in bowls of water. | 
Two of the screen trays full of stuff. | 
Another tray. You can see the tags pinned to the wood. |
A rim piece of pottery that I found while washing. These are important because the decorations can help identify the makers. (Sorry it's blurry!) | 
The potsherd I uncovered, all cleaned up. |
The tiniest piece of stone, pottery, or other artifact can be important. These bits needed to be recovered from the dirt that went through the screening tables. To do this, large bags of dirt were poured into these barrels. There were fine screens in the top of the barrel to hold the dirt. Water was pumped up from below and flowed out the tubes on the side. You used your hands to break up the dirt and then the little bits left over would sink and be caught in the screen. When all the dirt was gone, the screen would be taken out of the water and the tiny bits removed. It was wet and dirty work, but very enjoyable on a hot afternoon!
Bags of dirt waiting to go in the barrels. | 
The barrels we used. Notice the cloth under the spouts to catch any tiny fragments that might otherwise float away. | 
The outflow pipe carrying away the dirt. |
Go to Part 6: Cahokia Mounds.
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