Day 16: Cabin Fever

Another adventurous time unfolded today at the hillside cabin (aka Moss Vegas). Together Suzannah, Andy, and myself continued excavating the southern unit with enthusiasm, and music. As of yet, there has been no sign of cabin fever. How could there, with so many events unfolding?

The most exciting thing to mention was that Suzannah's metal basin, discussed in yesterdays blog, was indeed confirmed to have been a trash can lid! (Pictured below with it's handle)


The text on found on the lid, "McG" or "McC", can be read and will hopefully prove to be useful in identifying the manufacturer and the year of production.


This afternoon I excavated the southern border of the southern unit to uncover many roots, while Andy and Suzannah dug around the eastern border. The eastern border, where the garbage lid was found, is where a rock feature was uncovered (pictured below). The best theory we have, for the existence of the rock feature, is that it was used to support the cabin because it would have been easier and faster to create, than to level out a solid foundation. Just on the surface of the feature, these two metal sheets with rimmed edges were found. (pictured below). We are not yet sure what these are for.


Two other artifacts that Suzannah uncovered were a piece of glass that seems to have been warped, possibly by a fire in the area, as well as a very straight and young looking nail.


Throughout the southern unit, two types of nails have been uncovered: thick nails about 3.5 inches long, and thin nails about 2.5 inches long. A theory behind the various sizes of nails is that the smaller nails would have been used for the roof of the cabin, and the larger nails were used for the foundation of the cabin. We also have found several clumps of metal shards in the eastern part of the site... could it be that the cabin had a metal roof?

What happens in Moss Vegas, doesn't stay in Moss Vegas, and the level bags filled with nails and metal shards, as well as the artifacts were carted off to the laboratory to be seen once again on Friday.

There was also damp and misty weather today, making "sifting in the rain" a bit of a challenge, but Nadia, Andrea, and Anja managed to do so just fine!


The rest of the archaeologists were keeping busy and out of trouble working in the lab, or excavating on the east side of the McKenzie Creek site. Pictured below are Paul, Simon, Max, and Bora washing their hands away in the collected pools of water in our tent before lunch.

Tomorrow the class meets once again to continue the dig, and possibly a visitor from Capilano University. See you tomorrow!