- IJ
119: Dig update
This was the second dig of January. This time we went down to widen and enlarge the tube at the next way station to it's maximum and make this area the largest and easiest from people to pass each other, turn around or sit and rest. These digs were on consecutive days. On the last dig update we showed a moisture absorber bucket placed there at the beginning of the first dig this month and surprisingly it had taken all the moisture from the ceiling directly above it in just one night. We may use more of them in the future if when we get doen to the next dig the bucket is full.
The above photos show us continuing to dig the way station at the edge of the corner and then how much was dug by the fact the helper was completely out of view. Photo three shows how we get fill from one station to the other by way of the sled to be taken outside to be disposed of.
Our last post mentioned our new helper who was wanting some evidence of the outside world in the fill, something human like a bottle cap or something that gave an indication water surges did not bring in this fill from further up the hill...(by the way there is no tomo or cave system known to exist in the hills immediately behind). Well, we found just that...
As we were nearing the end of this dig I found a tibia of an animal that was not from any known animal I had seen before. It was in two pieces with a few fragments after accidentally hitting it with the digging implement. After all, we were never expecting to find foreign material in the fill. The bone almost looked human but the condyle and epicondyle (the end bits) looked too big to be that and therefore there was now the distinct possibility that what we had was in fact a Moa bone. But that was inconclusive without study in the light of day. You can see the effects of calcification in the broken bits. (click to enlarge)
The lower end of the tibia is where it joins the pronged foot bones and it was badly damaged in life possibly by a form of bone disease and it is possible it died due to walking problems and was covered over where it lay until dug up in some excavator buckets to be transported to the cave site some thirty to fifty years ago to fill it in ( read this if you don't know the story - http://tangatawhenua16.wixsite.com/the-first-ones-blog/why-this-blog-was-started ).
As my helper took a turn before we quit for the day, he came upon a better example just 20 cm away in the fill but further against the tube wall. There are two photos...as it was found, then once it was cleaned up a bit...
It is quite a find really and I'm guessing we might find the foot bones next time, or the fibula...and all that while not even looking for nor expecting such a rare and perfectly preserved example to come out of the clay to us.
So, our helper was wanting evidence and here it was. This phreatic tube is therefore deliberately hiding a cave with something a few do not want the world to see, and the evidence we have so far is...
Unnatural layering of many types of soils mixed in with others at the same level.
River rocks, many freshly broken (ie - not worn in tumbledown but broken by collection thereof or being thrown against other rocks)
Top layer of quarry type dust (not the same as the middle layer) mixed in with outside plant material.
A tube floor unstained by the mud of a natural long term flow (fluvial cave sediments) of mud and water (as in other tubes we have been in)
An artifact that came in with the outside material, fully calcified from long-term containment embedded in the clay that came in with it (it cant have fallen into the cave as there is no tomo on the hills above or any other entrance!)
The fact that two (so far) 'adjoining' bones from a small moa are within centimeters of each other
A gizzard stone 10 cm from the bones. This was found before the bones and tossed before the significance of it was known.
The age and dryness of the tube where our breath hasn't moistened the top layer. It showed no signs of flow deposit and the phreatic zone and vadose zone of this tube are not distinctly different. This is odd in itself.
No debrites (debris flow deposits that reveal water depositing) or inundites (flood deposits). Also the lack of apparent dissolution of the surfaces other than a very powerful ground spring flow at one time, and a sudden cessation of that flow. The tube was empty before ebing found the first time, or emptied out by those wishing to use it as an entrance to a burial cave after sealing another (now lost) entrance, although that is unlikely. Having said that we are not expert geologists. This tube alone is worthy of a geological study for it's uniqueness.
The only big question (that has no answer yet), is how the hell did they fill this tube the way they did. What process did they employ, what went in first, progressive layers in stages...? and did they use anything other than men crawling with container of material. Did they have a wheeled cart or a modified wheelbarrow? All that is still unanswered! A sample of the surrounding clay will be kept and bagged for future analyzing.
Till next time...
