Today we went to the Cade Farm, in Vernon County, which has been in the family for about 150 years. The farm was an hour south of La Crosse. Loren Cade began his accidental find of artifacts when he helped his father plant tobacco because the plugs had to be put in by hand. The family notified the state and they recorded it as an archaeology site. Loren had plowed a small area a few days before in anticipation of our dig. Two students were there and had measured off five 2 meter square units. This site was 47VE643 - 47 for Wisconsin, VE for Vernon County, and 643 for that particular area on the farm. We were given plastic bags, marked out bag and clip boards to record our findings, including that it was a level one plow zone. It was necessary to mark the level to show it had never been disturbed so they could continue to farm this area. Five of us worked each unit after being shown how to carefully dig and shift the soil. If we heard a clink we used a trowel. Someone asked Loren what was his most prized find and he said, "I want to say it's the whole collection. It includes artifacts from paleo to archic, to late woodland." We found pottery shards, two arrow tips, and numerous other specimens which we will wash and analze next week. When we finished for the day, all the dirt was put back and the unit markings were removed. It was important to not work a bigger area than we could complete in one day because this area will not be analyzed again until there is time to dig to the second level, which Loren showed us how to do on one unit.
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