Alamo Archaeology Church Preservation - September 26

Archaeological investigations continued on the south side of the Alamo Church. Archaeologists completed EU 135 and continued excavations at EU-141 and 145. A new unit—EU-136—was opened immediately south of EU-135.

Archaeologists in EU-135 reached a terminal  depth of 100 cm below surface by the end of the week. Most of the week was dedicated to end-of-unit documentation. This included hand drawn maps, multiple digital scans, photos, and GPS points. Examination of the soil and feature profiles was also conducted by the team.

EU- 141 was excavated to an approximate depth of 90 cm below surface. This unit has multiple utility pipes, some of which are still active. As a result, the soil deposits exhibit mixed context. Archaeologists continue to encounter gravel and modern material mixed with historic artifacts. Excavation will be completed this week.

Archaeologists in EU-145 continued excavations to a depth of approximately 50 cm below surface. By the end of the week archaeologists were beginning to encounter the same limestone wall footing that was documented in EU-144. While the top 3 levels of the unit had disturbance from utility installations, below the conduits the soil deposits are fairly undisturbed. Artifact counts began to increase once archaeologists were below the utility conduits. One unique artifact was the bottle cap from an Old Quaker whiskey bottle, dating to the 1930s.