This week we focused on cleaning the artifacts found during the Kennerly school dig. Artifacts have to be carefully cleaned with brushes and water to remove as much dirt as possible without causing damage. Some artifacts, such as wood and fabric require a more careful cleaning process that doesn’t use water. After washing, artifacts are placed on labeled trays to dry. Once they’ve dried we can then organize and catalog the artifacts based on type and location found. This process is essential in order to make sure that artifacts and the history we can learn from them are preserved for current and future generations. We also spoke with Joel Kennerly, who had lived across from the site where the school used to be his whole childhood. He visited the site to help point out where exactly he remembers the buildings being, which helpful for our research. We also showed him some pictures of our artifacts and explained archaeological methods, since he had been wondering what exactly we were doing. This was a great opportunity for community outreach and really helped me think about how to explain our methods in terms the average person can understand.
