Methodology

This chapter discusses the excavation methodology. Based on the identification of Suwannee points in artifact collections made by avocational archaeologists along the Tampa Bypass Canal near Harney Flats, ten weeks of Phase II fieldwork were spent systematically testing the right-of-way. This work revealed significant stratified deposits that were the subject of four months of Phase III excavations with a large crew. This work focused on opening three large block excavations totaling 967 m2. As one goal of the project was to reveal intrasite spatial patterning, hand excavation was done within 1 m squares in 20 cm levels while recognizable tools and cores were plotted three-dimensionally. Two problems of note were encountered during the fieldwork: heavy rains eroded portions of the excavations and site vandalism.