Holes of sectioned posts molds of Indian dwellings mark an excavated site. Members of the KU archaeological excavation party prepare to open a new section of earth in the background.
Jim Marshall, Topeka graduate student, and director of the excavation catches up on his field notes.
Chipped chert is evidence of dwellings.
By GREG SORBER
Kansan Staff Writer
GARDNER-The sound of grating shovels form a syncopated rhythm as eight students of an archaeological field party from the University of Kansas work to salvage information and artifacts of Indian dwellings which date from 500 A.D. before the Hillsdale Reservoir inundates the area.
Jim Marshall, Topeka graduate student, who is working on his Ph.D., is the director of the excavation, located about ten miles south of Gardner. Dick Carrillo, La Junta, Colo. senior, is in his second summer on the project and is the field foreman.
Marshall said the National Park Service is sponsoring the excavation with KU acting as the cooperating agency.
Photos by Greg Sorber
There are three coeds and five male students on the dig. All have worked on archaeological excavations before.
The archaeologist's day begins early in the morning with breakfast served by the field party's cook, Beth Brinkerhoff, Kansas City sophomore. Then everyone piles into Carrillo's Volkswagon bus and drives from the Arrow-
"The work is hot, dirty and monotonous," Marshall said. But they seem to enjoy field work or many would not be in Gardner. Candie Heavin, Overland Park graduate student, has spent four consecutive summers on archaeological digs.
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A picnic lunch is on the menu every day as the cook brings sandwiches and mail to the excavation site. The crew drove down near the tree surrounded creek to escape the heat during lunch.
In the weed covered field near the fork of two streams members of the party work to clear another excavation. This is the third site the group has excavated.