Methodology

The intended method of excavation in Tesoro 101 is as follows.  Soil will be broken up using small hand picks and sorted by hand into buckets and removed from the trench.  If more delicate features are encountered, trowels and/or leaf trowels will be used to break up the soil, which will be sorted into buckets and removed from the trench.  Depending on what is uncovered in T101 the methods of excavation may change as the trench and the remains found therein dictate the excavation method.

A dirt dump for discarding all soil excavated from T101 is established approximately 2 meters to the direct west of the area of excavation.  A rock dump for discarding all stones removed from T101 is established approximately 2.5 meters to the northwest of the area of excavation.  Terra cotta roofing tiles and plaster will be counted in bowls with a diameter of 27 cm and a maximum depth of 10 cm. Once tile and plaster have been counted they will be discarded in a tile dump which is established approximately 3 meters directly to the north of the area of excavation.  Pottery, bone, vitrified terra cotta, slag, amorphous bronze, and amorphous iron will be collected, counted, and saved separately as bulk finds in latte boxes.  Latte boxes have the approximate depth of 23cm, length of 9cm, and width of 6 cm.  

For special finds recovered during hand sorting into buckets, the coordinates and elevations will be recorded.  In order to determine the coordinates, a plumb bob will be held over the location of the special find, and then the distance from two of the perpendicular baulk walls will be determined by extending a tape measure at a right angle from the string of the plumb bob to the string marking the boundaries of the trench.  In order to determine the elevation of special finds, once again a plumb bob will be held over the find spot of the special find. Simultaneously, a string with a line level will be attached to a fixed datum point and will be pulled taut and level, so that it intersects with the string of the plumb bob. A tape measure will be held so that it runs parallel to the string of the plumb bob, and the elevation relative to the datum point may then be determined. As the absolute elevation of the datum point is known, the absolute elevation of the special find may be calculated using the found relative elevation.