The Huron Expositor, 1975-08-14, Page 13NOW WHAT I'S THAT ? Bill'H art, elocal collector, asks about one of the many of
objects being found ini that square. On his 'left is Alan Kelley, a vacationing ROM
worker from the Egyptian department, who h as been excavating that site and. has
found as many as 60 lids in that spot. On the right, is his wife, Lynne and onlhe left
the youngest member of the crew, Peter Turner, are watching. (Staff Photo)
b THAT WAY IT WAS p- This, picture was found last winter, in a book published by'
the Ontario Departnient of Mines in 1906; Prior to"this, the ROM was relying on
recollections of..Clare Pretty, who visited the site as a child for a description of the
Pottery building. In the picture, the pots can be seen drying out of doors.Mrs.Pretty
remembered that during the summer pottery was placed outside, until enough
pottery had accumulated to load the kiln.
(Photo compliments of the Ontario Department of Mines and the ROM)
anthropology Pt' .P'elligiffitY,111110
WO:MO this was, her first 41Z..
she found.. ;Mach' more
interesting than gardening.
Gordon., an electrical draftsman
from„Arantford,,,s0td.he :was -bop
lastyear, and had to come-back or
die of curiosity, Over AI* 'whiter,
he bad plenty of time to thenr#e
•oa What would be foPPOK.PPO "
to learn whether an' of his ideas
would' hold water,.
They've tot a bpig, and *or
seem glad to have it, the
numbers at the site were
constantly changink with some
staying the total of the two WeekS,
while others came fot a couple7 Cif
day's, to return later.
While scraping and digging, I
soon came across a round white
object, that 'resembled a cake
mold, and later an object that
looked like the kitchen sink. They
were removed, and Mr. Newlarids
later said my kitchen sink, was
likely a plaster of paris mold for a
spitoon.,
This convinced him that the
pottery shop had operated like a
bakery where the ordinary items
were put on the price list, but
special items had to be ordered.
"The molds are very, very
(Continued on Page 16)
THE BASE
FACTORY
OUTLET
NEW
STORE HOURS:
MONDAY through
FRIDAY 11 AM to 9 PM,
SATURDAY 9 AM' to 6 PM
Closed SUNDAYS
HURON COUNTY'S LARGEST
DEPARTMENT STORE
MEN'S- BOYS' -LADIES'-GIRLS' and BABY'S WEAR
YARD GOODS-FURNITURE- MATTRESSES-PAINT
SEWING MACHINES-SMALL APPLIANCES-LAMPS
LOCATED ON HWY NO. 4
SOUTH OF CLINTON AT VANASTRA
FABRIC SALE
BORG FABRIC END
KNITS
TOWEL ENDS
TOWELLING
,COTTON VELOUR
BEDSPREAD ENDS
BEDSHEETS
LINGERIE ENDS
BY THE POUND $1.57
BY THE POUND $2.4.7
BY THE POUND , $3,97
BY THE POUND $3,77
BY .THE POUND $ 1.60
BY THE POUND $2.2/
BY THE
POUND
*BORG FABRIC BEDs -p .'$s t4E1,1:rA.CDROEVEAEFDROssit,,
I ETC.ItlkUGS' ItAp E 1...',yARD $
PER POUND 1.57 •
Vanastra Hymn Sing
will feature
from Kitchener
SUNDAY, AUG. 17
8:00 p.m.
at the Vanastra Christian, Church
Continues Inside
the Rest of this month
Goderich St.
ARCHIE'S
SUNOCO
East Seaforth
JIM
Main
CROCKER
Family Footwear ,
St. Seaforth
Infants. Cldldrens.
f!!!:,'
Shop &worth
Teem and ladies
KEATING'S
PHARMACY
527-1990
LTD. •
Sea fort h
Chris McGregor of R.R.#3, Klppen Is congratulated by Peg Ellis of the Jack
& Jill store. Chris accepted the congratulations and a $50.00 voucher for her
mother Gladys who won in the Championship Golf Game.
Start Trading the Same Coloured Stamps with a Friend
A DAY AT THE DIG —
Jo,
• ....:.. .,•p
tern are more history conscious since
No fruer words Were ever
spoken. for at this point, only
shoulders and heads could • be
seen from the holes.
_leo interested to really mind
the cramped feelings in my legs,
work would continue until some-
one would say, "Look whit l'Oe
got." When ttiis happened and a
few of the diggers came over to
look, Gordon said to the crew,
"This is exactly, what David
doesin want." He explained that
the leader the the dig, wanted
them to act like professionals and
continue working when an object
Was found.
To show the difference between
a professional and air amateur, he
pointed out Alan. ,Kelley, a
They recognized 'me as the worker in the Eygptian depart-
reporter for the local paper since I • ment of th ROM, who was
had dropped by ,for a picture a .continuing to work on his square,
couple of days ago, and had his back to the newly found items.
arranged' to help dig for half a When Mr. Kelley, the pro,
day, to get a feel for• what they found an interesting item, he
were doing. didn't call out, but you only heard
David -Newlands, the archeo- him sort of smugly clear his
lo gist with the Canadiana throat.
his vacation as he said for people •ever day articles but were artists.
Gordon was always hovering wouldn't know anything about
above us to suggest how to the industry-if it wasn't dug up.
remove a particular object or to As he talked he worked away at
a layer of lids which were just warn us against causing the sides
to cave in. e below the surface. Later he would .
Later, he had .us put on ask someone to get him a
regulation hardhats in case of a tablespoon so he could dig around
cave in. them more carefully.
The other day, the crew had He said Egypt was poor ' and
been .scraping, arid' whisking, the' overcrowded and the city of Cairo
dirt, •but by this time, pics were with its population of eight
being used to. break the clay, and than Los s nghaAdaeirlespollution worse
the trowel to remove the dirt,
Egypt has had 60 to 100 years wThheicsh ,is put in buckets.
were later lifted out of the of excavations and in some
hole. villages and families there • is a .
It wasn't long until Peter had tradition of_working in digs. In the
found the firs 'hol crock. This last expedition there were about
ccesslon of ten trained personnel with about
from our 5qte400 local peoplekwhowvorked
er said: "I fdr 65 cents to 80 cents a day
don't feel as excited as I did which is relatively well paying, he
yesterday." said.
This remark was greeted by Now the Egyptian government
mock disgust expecially, by Bill is becoming stricter with who it
Farnell, a public school teacher in allows to dome into their country .
Howick Township, who had join- to dig. In the past, some men
ed the group the 1 day before. All have spent 20 years digging a
he was getting was ash. , site, and then died before their
Huron Pottery collector, Bill work was-published. A site can't
Hart dropped by the site a couple be redug, in that way archeology
Of times that morning. Wheh is destructive, and is only
asked if he came by often, he productive if the findings are
said: "No, only, about three time a made public.
day." • Mr. Newland agreed that
He picked up a can of worms he archeologists' tools are
had the diggers collect as they destructive. Later he said the
burrowed their was through the Ontario government in the
cellar. For the next couple of Ontario Heritage 'Act of last year,
days, each time, he dropped by, made it mandatory to be licensed'
he learned 'the crew had found to do field work.
some other gem, This license requires that
People were drOpping around archeological findings be '
throughout the day, but as Mr. published!, and that no profit be
. and. Newlands had said before, made from the digs..
He said in this way, the "there weren't lineups."
Mrs. Huggett dropped by to government is trying to define the
bandage up Peter who got ,amateur and professional
scrapped when ge took a spill ,on archeologist, and what is
his bike the day before. acceptable and what is not,
Later Mr, Newlands said the He said more than 75 per cent
, crew was "living off the fat Of the of the pottery sites have bee%
land" for local people including destroyed, many in urban areas,
Mrs. Huggett baked desserts,a bulldozed in the name of
donated things to their effort. progress. This was one of the
When asked about this later, reasons the Egmondville site was
she said: "These are my kitid of chosen for its location made it
people. They're down to earth." more likely to be intact, he said.
It was 8:30 Thursday morning,
and , the ' crew •for the, Royal
Ontario Museum was a little late,
since work was to begin at SAY
a.m. Driving up, the site looked
deserteehut by the, time 'I had
stepped from the car, everyone'
was hussling:
Susan Richardson, a technician
with the ROM, ,was busy washing
up the dishes, a chore the men in
the group weren't very helpful
with, she joked.
Members of the group greeted
me with enthusiasm saying,
"You've come the right day."
The 'previous day, the group
uncovered a whole layer of lids,
later to be numbered around
60.
an old shoe. It's mate was found the day before. It also has a role In reconstructing surprised when without further
local history. 5) The first complete crock found on the Egmondville site. 6) a n ado, I was given a pair of gloves,
umberof lids found within the. block. 7) When the articles were found they were/ a shovel, bucket, trowel, and set
placed in this basin.Standing up is an old medicine bottle and samples of soil were to work-. I was to work in the
also kept. The potter tools found may be the firgt of their j(ind found in Canada. T squareur n er owithf fir of tuet eon w- yheoa rwoulsdoPue ht Pete sr
first-dig. Peter joined the group
after having met some of the
members of the crew in' a hiking
association.
Peter was in his glory, for the
day befote he had found several
pieces of pottery that confirmed
Mr. Newlands' opinion that the
potters-weren't solely producing
Earlier this year, Mr. Kelley
had been digging in Upper Egypt;
At the Temple of Karnak, looking
for the remains of Pharoah
Akhenaton, who died around 1350'
B.C. and was one of the first
kings to believe in one god.
When asked if in comparison
the Egmondville dig was pretty
tame,. said the working
condition were much better.
He ,said it was "more, exciting
did romantic" in Egypt because
each layer,,qf soil might go back
1,000 years. Still he was enjoying
was just, one of a s
articles to 'be take,
square but the dig
be area
schools including VHS -sbowing
ob§ :et agsr edaTa done. fllieltr,nni804 ntehlY:td ;In*:
of the local high schogl students
volunteer work force,.
There was no historical,
archeology in Ontatio before
1966, but it •is growing fast, he
said.
The work didn't seem toe
strenuous, although the next day
I felt a few muscles in my arm and
legs 1 didn't know existed.
Mr. Famed said he dug an '
Indian site, and that was
backbreaking work, because it
covered a larger area, and the
dimensions weren't really known,
so it required turning a lot of turf.
They excavated a 300 foot
loghouse , he said.'
People must stop to wonder at
this point why these young people
spend their vacations grovelling
in the dirt,
Mr. Newlands called it a
"consuming passion, a great
, love," which "takes all of my
waking hours" which he said
causes his wife to complain
sometimes. •
A housewife from Strathroy
said she took, courses in
4 t1 would very much discourage
amateurs from digging on their
own. We suggest they work with
a professional."
Gordon, he said, has been on a
dig for three' yeats, and is now
assisting him. Not only field work
experience is important but also
an academic baskground; and he
would suggest those interested in
getting into the field to take a
course where it's offered. •
"There is a role for the
amateur, but I think the key is
that they should be professional
in what they do."
"Being professional requires
'you just don't dig but you also
publish," Mr. 'Newlands said.
"Anyone digging around
without a license is violating the
law" and on principle the ROM
won't , buy any items removed
from an excavated site.
He said there is a tremendous
amount of work to be done by
local people and feels area people
,„ • work beganon the Van Egmond Expositor reporter, Nancy Andrews is assisting Peter department of ROM' went to Mr. Kelley was on vacation
from the, museum, and his,wife Turner In this particular block. The objects sitting on the ground above their heads . Torqnto on business, and Gordon • restored home can become
were found Thursday morning, when she was helping 1) plaster of -paris _mold of a Thompson took ' me under• his one year, Lynne, was with him literve center" for the She came on this working holiday spittoon, 2) ;the first jug found with the handle. Other pieces were found nd w*.community. "From what I see to learn more'about her Knowing the importance of they are doing it right," he said. probably it will be assembled in the museum. 3) a grape design mold 4) the sole of keeping all the finds intact I was husband's work. last winter, visited