The Big Dig - Part 2

The inventory has been checked.  Flights are booked.  The security fences will be up soon.  The Big Dig is coming back.  Two of the archaeologists from Queens Uni in Belfast will be returning along with 3 Graduate students.  They will be met by 3 UMass students and will form this year's team.  The dates are set for Monday, August 8 through Friday, August 12.  While the team tries to stay focused on the work at hand, visitors are invited to come by and take a look.

If you recall last year 2 pits were dug.  The one on the right contained a midden, a garbage heap, filled with cow bones, pottery shards, a clay pipe, etc.  The pit on the left was the mystery that awaits us.  The foundation stone was found just as the dig came to a close.  What finds await us this year?

A lot of research has gone on over the past year.  Studies have been done on who owned the land (what a great little story that is!).  There has also been a study on what lies under the ground!  Stay tuned for updates as they occur.

On another note- today was my last day of walking the cemetery.  For 18 days I've walked around with our Civil War burial list, verifying burials against markers and monuments.  Eighteen days ago I had high hopes of matching 80 or 90 % of the list.  The final result was far, far less.  Of course I had to choose the 18 hottest days of the summer.  But the deed is done.  The team is still formatting all the data.  We hope you can join us for this year's tour of the cemetery in September.  We will have some great new stories of our Irish forebears to share.

As this blog approaches its first anniversary I notice we've had almost 2000 hits.  Hopefully folks are enjoying the posts.  Feedback is needed.  Let me know what you enjoy, or want to know.  Or maybe those 2000 hits are all from some spam machine and no one is out there!