3 - Excavation and Documentation of the Princeton and Smithsonian Horner Site Assemblages

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the records from the 1949 to 1952 excavations at the Horner site. Although the Princeton–Smithsonian excavations at the Horner site were completed over 30 years ago and only brief reports on the site have been prepared and published (Jepsen 1953a,b; Wedel 1961:68–70; Wormington 1957:127–128), the data documented in the field notes and maps provides a valuable source of information about this important site. In addition to documenting the procedures used and materials recovered during the Princeton–Smithsonian excavations, an evaluation of the integrity and resolution of the archaeological materials recovered from 1949–1952 becomes necessary to analyze archaeological materials and make assessments of the relative integrity and resolution of the assemblages under investigation. In 1949, the grid system used during the 1949–1952 excavation period was established. The origin of the grid system was to the northeast of the site. Although both bone and chipped stone were mapped, only the chipped stone items were given identification numbers and systematically saved. During the 1950 field season, geological field work was conducted at the Horner site by Sheldon Judson, John Moss, and a Princeton University student, John Schulungen. The program of geologic investigations included the drilling of a series of auger holes to the surface of the Cody Terrace gravels to document the sequence of deposits. In the initial phase of the investigation, these holes were drilled using a hand auger. Several types of features were recorded during the Princeton–Smithsonian excavations. These included hearth areas, charcoal scatters, areas of burnt earth or bone, clusters of lithic debitage, and a series of pits or depressions.