Mercer students get field experience with base archaeologist Published July 25, 2008 By Amanda Creel 78 ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, GA -- Three Mercer University students learned the validity of the old adage "patience is a virtue" after spending weeks working side-by-side with Robins archeologist, Stephen Hammack. The students joined Mr. Hammack digging holes throughout the Robins floodplain hoping to discover a little piece of history. "They are volunteers. They don't get paid and they keep coming back even though we aren't finding anything," said Stephen Hammack, base archeologist. He added he was impressed that despite the odds the three students Leah Casler, a senior; Joey Rantz, a sophomore; and Kristin Stacey, a junior, continued to come out each week. "We don't get any credit hours for this. We are just doing this for the experience," Ms. Casler said. The students started their weekly exploration of Robins June 12. Each Thursday when the students arrive to the base's archaeology lab, they load up their gear including a screen, a shovel, snake chaps, gloves and a compass and head to the base's floodplain. "The floodplain acreage has only been done piecemeal and now we are here doing it systematically because we know things were found here," Mr. Hammack said. "This area was labeled as an occurrence by archaeologists who did a study of the base in the '80s. They were not sure if it was a site or not, so we are reinvestigating." Once the students and Mr. Hammack find their way around Horse Creek and through the woods to an area known as Occurrence 30, the students set up camp and start digging in an effort to sample the grounds. The students have braved snakes and spiders all in an effort to gain the experience needed to excel in their career field and make a monumental discovery one day. "It's an adventure every day," Ms. Casler said. During the 1986 study, the archaeologists found seven pieces of decorated pottery dated to the Late Mississippian period, all belonging to the same vessel in one shovel test and the students are hoping to discover something as well. The archeologists dug four tests at the time and the students under the supervision of Mr. Hammack have dug 16 with no discoveries. The students said it's a win, win situation Mr. Hammack gets some free labor and they are able to get the field experience they are not able to get as students. Both Ms. Casler and Mr. Rantz worked tirelessly fighting roots July 17 trying to attain an adequate sample. Along with fighting massive tree roots the students also had to face less than favorable dirt as they attempted to reach the desired depth of 80 centimeters. Where the first hole was dug the ground was too wet making the sample tough to screen and at the second the opposite, the hardness of the dirt slowed the screening process. "When it's just right you can just throw it in and it will just fall straight through," Mr. Rantz said. Along with screening through the dirt in search of more artifacts, the students also classified the layers within the hole using the Munsell soil color chart. Mr. Rantz and Ms. Casler agreed regardless of what they didn't find they would be back again next Thursday for another chance to discover their own "treasure box." Mr. Hammack described the student's experiences as a good introduction to Cultural Resource Management. "In CRM you dig thousands if not tens of thousands of holes hardly ever finding anything," he said. "But when you do that makes it all the more special."