P-MAN XII Progress Report #09 - Sharks; trail blazing; Archaeology 101
27 February 2010

Lessons learned:

1. Bulldozers are not the first choice of tools for archeologists.
2. Army Engineers: Ask for a path, get a super highway.
3. Junior archeologists get to draw on paper.
4. You always find the thing you are looking for in the last place you look.

Today was a split op day. Jolie Liston, our archaeologist friend/team member who lives in Palau, was available to work with us on a site that we needed professional help with. Steve Ballinger from Cleared Ground Demining wanted to visit the Police Hill area with us. And some of the CAT team came out to clear a path for the President of Palau to see our finds regarding the missing POWs and Jesuit Priests. In addition, since Rick can't leave the country, he would run a boat day of SSS.

First, the boat people. They had most of the SSS gear in our ready room last night working on the computer side of things. They have a software program that can stick together all of our SSS tracks so we can see where we've been and more importantly, where we need to go to cover a particular part of the ocean.

They took that information when they left this morning, intending to implement a search plan using SSS. However, Joe said the winds had died down and the east side of the island would be smooth enough to go back there to continue the search we'd had to cut short the other day. This is the side that Henni took us to. So, without loading the SSS gear, they headed out to the point in the reef where we were a few days ago. They came up with nothing. Couldn't even find the buoy we left behind (it could have sunk already so not a big whup.). However, they did see hundreds of dolphins and lots of sea life in their dives.

While they were underwater, Ennis the boat driver (Joe normally drives for us but he went diving instead to help search) caught some great looking Mahi-Mahi. Maybe a little fish blood got in the water. After our divers were up on the boat, Joe caught a fish. Then an oceanic white tip shark took the fish and lure off of Joe's line. There were two of these sharks by the boat and the lads on deck said they were very impressive. I'm told oceanic white tips are nomadic, don't tend to be seen together and really feed on people from shipwrecks and airplane crashes in open ocean. When they are available, that is.

They came back to port and really did not have enough time to go back out so they called it a day.

The land team met up with the CAT team on Babelthuap. Then we met Jolie at the entrance to Police Hill. We all went up together and the CAT team took us in their four wheel drive most of the way to where we wanted to work.

Paul showed the CAT team the trail he laid out for the President's tour next month. The CAT guys brought along weed whackers and went to work making the trail. They were going to cut out some of the elephant grass/ferns so the walking would be easier.

Pat and I took Jolie to a section of the woods where we found about 8 mounds of rock that looked like gravesites to us. We got permission from The Bureau of Arts and Culture to do a partial excavation of one of the mounds. That way, we could get a representative sample of what's under these stone mounds.

Jolie Liston, resident archeologist.

This is the area where our POWs (AAF and UDT) and the Jesuit Missionaries could have been hidden. We know from the War Crime Trials that the Japanese wanted to cover up the fact that they executed everyone they captured, except for one American POW.

Jolie not only volunteered on her day off to do this, but offered to teach us how to do it. Not that we ever would. We do not have the authority to do so.

The steps to do this are:

1. Clean off the leaves and roots.
2. Set a datum line above the dig.
3. Measure some points vertically from the datum line.
4. Measure the site.
5. Take lots of pictures throughout.
6. Draw a representation of the site.
7. Remove first layer of rocks.
8. Measure from datum line again.
9. Remove next layer.
10. Remove dirt.
11. Hit bedrock.
12. Measure again.

Original Pile.

Cleaned Off.

Flip Measuring.

Two Poison Trees.

Pat In The Forest.

Poison Tree.

Key To Poison Tree Identification: Little Collars On Stems.

Pink Ribbon At Bottom Of Dig.

End Of Dig Return To Original Status.

13. Put pink tape at bottom to show we've been there.
14. Replace rocks where we found them.
15. Take more pictures.
16. Leave and don't come back.

So, it was a bust. But thinking about this area, these are just clearing piles on a slope. Visualize a wheelbarrow full of stones. If you dump them on level ground, you get a rough circle. If you dump them on a slope, you'll get a grave-looking, oblong pile of stones. And if all the stone piles are on the same slope, they'll all be parallel. So our human minds tried to make something of what could be random piles of stones.

We then went to another area where we believe the "bodies are buried". Jolie did a shovel test. No a test of the actual site. But a couple of holes outside of the site by a few feet. We learned that in soil analysis talk, you will have your A horizon, B horizon, C horizon, sapolite layer and bedrock. And once again I was measuring. But this time our datum was a big tree (not likely to disappear in the next few years) and I was measuring horizontal distance and direction: to each of the test holes, and to the corners of our target site.

Me, with archeological instruments. And wrist sweat band on the wrong wrist.

What all of this tells us is that it is possible for graves to be in our target area. So, we will put our case together for JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) to evaluate a recovery mission.

The CAT guys were really busy today. They built super highways through the elephant grasses. What used to be a winding walk up to your shoulders in vegetation, is now a quick straight line from the ridge road to the jungle. The President will have a grand tour.

What we'll show the President. Doesn't look like much but this could be "the place."

After happy hour, we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and tear apart Rick and Nicole's room again. As we were getting set to go down to their room, they called up to say the passports were found. Seems they weren't hidden in the closet, but in a scuba diving gear bag. They were hidden so well Rick didn't remember putting them there until he found them.

Out to dinner and now I'm typing. We pick Warren Bruce up at the airport tonight. That will complete our team for this mission. So now that the Marines will be onboard, maybe we'll find something.

More later as it happens. Hope you're not buried under too much snow.

- Flip
 

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