Cleaning the surface for the test excavation
Monday July 14 saw the beginning of the test excavation of the necropolis buried under the old farm Ca’n Fanals. Rachael and Barcelona workers laid out the pit according to Miguel’s specifications, with the trench situated across the intersection of the line of graves excavated by Llabres in the 1920s (now covered, of course) and a wall noted by Llabres in his plot. This exploratory excavation is a test: did we survey the necropolis correctly? is our mapping of the old excavations reliable? We hope the answers are yes, because future excavations of new parts of the necropolis depend on them.
Stay tuned this week for updates and expansion of this post!
UPDATE for Wed July 16: On this third excavation day, the test trench is now at a layer of soil much older than the top soil plowed for so many decades on the old farm Ca’n Fanals. By the 1:00 PM quit time, workers have slowed excavation considerably in order for the lead archaeologist to read the pit and make good decisions about how to proceed. Wednesday photos are appended below.
Photo credits this page: Ronda Bard
Establishing surface elevation before pit excavation
Completing initial layout of test excavation trench
Breaking ground on the cleaned and survey test plot
Removing surface layers is hot, dusty work
Fr. Rutherford lends a hand in clearing early trench layer
Tools for excavation
Look at this! Better save this fragment
Excavation with a Mallorcan tool adapted for archaeology
Wed: Barcelona workers reach a tricky part of test trench
Wed: Director Esther Chávez checks the test trench
Wed: The fix-it team ties an awning to the olive tree next to the trench
Wed: Billy the Problem Solver mulls progress at the trench
Wed: Sebastià Munar Llabrés (Tià), Barcelona lead archaeologist for the trench excavation, makes his decisions
Wed: Stopping point for the morning’s work
