Microblades: Keys to the mysterious past
Richard Pettigrew, excavation director,
finds microblades in the sift Below, Megan
Monson sifts earth for more microblades
They have been digging since June 14.
There’s no Lost Ark of the Covenant
to be found in the Camas Valley of
southwestern Oregon But there are
microblades
Microblades are tiny elongated
pieces of obsidian or other hard stones
that ancient peoples set into grooves in
wood to make tools for scraping or
stabbing
The origins of the microblades being
dug up at the Standley site in the
Camas Valley, some 30 miles west of
Roseburg, are something of a scientific
mystery
On a visit to the site, the Emerald
discovered that attempting to solve that
mystery requires a great deal of
meticulous, monotonous and decidedly
unglamorous work
' Excavating a site is destroying it,”
says Richard Pettigrew, director of the
Standley excavation "It's like taking a
house apart and making blueprints "
Pettigrew is a research associate at the
Museum of Anthropology and the
highway archaeologist at the Universi
ty
The excavation of the site was trig
gered by impending highway construe
tion When the state highway depart
ment builds roads with federal financial
help — as in this case — it must make
sure that important archaeological
sites are explored before their con
struction begins. Pettigrew, by taking a
sampling of the area, had previously
determined this was such a site
Pettigrew's 22-member team of ar
chaeologists, students and Native
Americans, plans to excavate 25 per
cent of the crucial area the new road
will cover Five percent of the area that
will be covered by new landscaping will
also be excavated Under a contract
based on a strict budget, funds for the
dig are paid to the University by the
state highway department
In the field, Pettigrew resembles In
diana Jones, at least in terms of dress
The clothes are khaki. A kind of straw
safari-type hat shades his stubbly face
But Pettigrew and his team fight dis
order, not Nazis. Ground squirrels have
tunneled through the site, moving ob
jects from level to level. Cows have
fallen into excavations at night
Above all, however, there is the threat
of disorder posed by the digging itself
The team has been digging since
June 14. When the Emerald visited the
site early this month there were 11
two-meter square holes, or units, in
various stages of excavation
Each day, two-person teams ex
cavate about four inches in their units
Workers don't usually make their
finds in the units When one worker
takes a shovelful of dirt, he or she
dumps it a bucket which is emptied into
nested screens hung in a sling from a
wooden frame The second team
member swings the screens and dirt to
filter the material through one-fourth
inch and eighth-inch wire mesh
For the untrained, the first look into a
screen filled with dirt is as exciting as it
sounds But when an expert like Petti
grew starts shaking a sifter and picking
through pebbles and other debris,
things come alive As the dust settles,
anyone would feel a thrill or two of
anticipation
Suddenly, Pettigrew pulls out some
tiny flakes of what he identifies as ob
sidian, a mineral not native to the
Camas Valley. Someone must have
traded for the obsidian in the Cas
cades, Pettigrew theorizes. Obsidian
blades are as sharp as the finest steel,
although not as long lasting, he says as
he carefully slips the flakes into a plas
tic bag
"The size of an object is no measure
of its importance,'’ he pronounces.
Then he asks for the quadrant where
the flakes came from and begins to fill
in a label on the bag “State catalogue
number quadrant designation
strata Level 3, that's down 10 cen
timeters elevation, between 98.70
60 date initials of excavator
mesh of screen.”
When all this is done, Pettigrew has
the exact three-dimensional location of
the flakes Another piece has been
added to the puzzle, another figure has
been added to the blueprint.
Out of the same unit earlier in the day
came a microblade core — a stone used
by the inhabitants of the site to chip
microblades Pettigrew explains that
microblades haven't been found before
in the southwest part of the state and
that they are usually associated with
Arctic cultures of Asian origin
There are so many finds to be made
at the Standley site because at one time
the area, when it was much flatter than
it is now, was an ideal campsite, says
anthropology student Tom Connolly,
28 Because the Camas microblades
come from the upper levels of the units,
they seem to be of more recent vintage
than those in the Arctic, he speculates.
The technology for making the blades
is also different from the Arctic variety,
he adds
"It's exciting when you’re finding
things, but a test pit where you're not
finding anything — that can be boring,"
says Cheri Vitez. 27, a worker in an
other unit. A holder of an anthropology
degree from the University, she says
that "people don't realize how phy
sically hard this is.”
The workers, camping out in the
playground of the Camas school and
using its showers and dining room, are
up each morning Monday through Sa
turday at 6 a m. They breakfast at 7
a m., then head for the site in four
pick-ups and two station wagons by
7:50 a m. Quitting time is between 4 and
4:30 p m
After dinner, the workers drink beer
around the campfire, play cards, write
letters, watch the sun go down. Camp
life is comfortable but isolated, it’s easy
to lose track of the outside world News
of events like Hinckley going free
comes in via letters or visitors. Going to
sleep at 9 p.m after a day of digging
and sifting is easy.
Megan Monson, a University under
graduate, calls the work “mentally
straining, you have to do everything
perfect." Besides cataloging objects,
the workers map each level of a unit
and profile and photograph all the
Margaret Chodos carefully digs, preparing dirt for sifting.
walls. They chop out 20-centimeter
square block samples and send them
back to the lab. Charcoal from camp
fires is saved and used for dating — so
far, it looks as if the oldest objects from
the site are 2,000 years old, plus or
minus about 100 years. This would
seem to confirm a recent theory that
migration to the area began much ear
lier than previously thought.
For three of the team members —
who perhaps are descendants of those
migrants — there is more to the dig than
determining ages or fitting together the
pieces of a puzzle.
"On our own initiative, we decided to
hire some Native Americans,” says
Pettigrew. They were selected on the
same basis as the other workers, but
there was no requirement of previous
experience, he adds.
"This is a first for the University,”
Pettigrew says with pride.
Three members of the Cow Creek
tribe were hired, with one having
previous archaeological experience.
"I applied because I wanted to learn
more about my people," says Linda
Jackson, 22, a Native American artist
new to archaeology. She had found
microblades before, but hadn't been
aware of their significance.
"I feel real good about what's hap
pening here,” says another Native
American, Mike O’Dell, cultural re
source consultant for the University’s
Natural History Museum. "But I
wouldn’t want to bother (the site) if it
wasn’t going to be destroyed.’’
An experienced digger self-trained in
the art of arrowhead and blade making,
O'Dell says he thinks of the valley as a
spiritual place where he can bring his
children.
The non-Native Americans have re
spect for the area, he notes Yet be
sides feeling reverence, for a Native
American like himself there’s a spiritual
high.
Native Americans have been losing
their culture, comments Jackson “We
need to start understanding a lot
more."
Story by william Kogut
Photos by Mark Pynes
loco Oh*
810 fosl
Cl Spudo’s
Taco Citij
ALDER
Burrilos
Tacos
Hachos
Hoi Dogs
Chili
Ho lUm over $2.00
ft*c small soft drink
ui/ purchase over $2.00
(comer of 12th & Alder)
KINCAID
/
attention!
TEACHERS |
SPECIALISTS & |
ADMINISTRATORS j
If you are enrolled in course work the FIRST
FOUR-WEEKS of Summer Session that is required
for the University's recommendation for an Oregon
Certificate or addition of an Endorsement for your
school contract this Fall, come to Room 117,
College of Education’s Office of Certification as
soon as possible.
Teachers or prospective teachers enroiiea beyond
the first-four week Summer Session for the same
purpose, please come to the Office of Certification
prior to July 19th.
caught ya!
IS YOUR FUTURE
IN THE AIR?
TRAINING: Training programs offering early managerial and technical
responsibilities. Immediate opening in aviation management.
PILOTS • NAVIGATORS • SYSTEMS OPERATORS
QUALIFICATIONS: Minimum BS/BA degree (summer graduates may
inquire). Applicants must be no more than 29 years old. Relocation
required. Applicants must pass aptitude and physical examinations and
qualify for security clearance. U.S. citizenship required.
BENEFITS: Excellent package includes 30 days' earned annual
vacation. Medical/dental/low cost life insurance coverage and other
tax-free incentives. Dependents’ benefits available. Extensive training
program provided. Promotion program included.
PROCEDURE: See Travis Luz at the EMU on July 19-21 from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
German
AUTO St RVICB
VWs-MERCEDES-BMWs
DATSUN-TOYOTA-AUDI
Reliable service for your foreign car
342-2912
2025 Franklin Blvd
Eugene, Oregon
WSWMWMfMSWSfIMflW
THE YANKEE CLIPPER 1
BOUTIQUE |
GIANT I
QUITTING BUSINESS 1
SALE I
NOW!
Complete Liquidation
Everything Goes!
Cotton blouses, skirts & pants, rayon -
dresses, Chinese enamelled earrings, r
The Yankee Clipper b
Smeede Hotel *E
767 Willamette £=
tirfnitnrmnmmiinHTinnrrimmnmimmE
Heard about
the
Cervical Cap?
The Cervical Cap is used as a barrier method of
birth control. It is a thimble shaped cap made out of
rubber which fits tightly over the neck of the cervix,
preventing sperm from entering the uterus. The cap
was used in this country years ago, but has not
gained popularity until recently.
It has been used for years success
fully in Western Europe. At this
time the cervical cap is not
approved by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). Studies are
being done to determine its current
effectiveness and safety
PORTLAND
WOMEN'S
HEALTH
CENTER
6510 SEFOSTFR ROAD
PORTLAND, OREGON 97206
503/777-7044
Aii xet into nature, recycle
thin paper ^ w Iff