My non-logged in real-life collaborator, "Q" and I set out for an Urban Archaeological Dig. It was to take place near the Sanitary Shipping Canal underneath the shadow of the subject for my Object Annotation Praxis, The South Damen Street Bridge. Needless to say, the South Damen Street Bridge permeates my life. And as it's many amazing views encompass so much of what living in Chicago means to me, it seemed fitting that i should dig deeper and find out what clues to our natural and cultural histories lay buried beneath that bridge. And so we dug. We set out late at night with the tools of our trade.


above are very high tech urban archaology digging tools to help us probe the depths of the banks of the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal, which is pictured below:

We walked down a truck ramp to the railroad tracks, which we were able to follow under a viaduct to the bank of the canal itself. As we walked the tracks we stumbled upon some very important clues which would help us decide where to dig. First an intact cloth bag reading "U.S. Mint CENTS $50" We picked up the slimy specimen and put it in our collection bag. Not only did it not have $50,in it, it did not contain a single cent. This incongruous labeling, surely pointed to some important factors regarding the evolutionary history of the peri-shipping-canal area.

Next a tin which looked like it had seen some abuse:

We carefully placed it in the specialized archaeological collection bag:
Next, a rubbery cord with metal hood attached, purported to be used to attach large items to other large items. It was missing one metal hook, so we did not collect said item:
Next, we came across many empty cans, all of which had in common very small opening and the words "spray paint" somewhere on the container:

We did not put these in the bag because they were, collectively, rather large. Nor did we collect the next item:

It is a neatly sealed ziplock bag full of really nasty rotting trash. I felt it would be very important evidence and pleaded we place it in the collection bag. But, alas, "Q" threatened it to leave me behind and hitchike away on the first semi truck if i brought it along.

So we perservered, and found our first genuinely organic specimen. 3/4 of a coconut:
Followed by an item so inorganic, it still retained it's brilliant color after who knows how many eons of festering next to the canal:


We felt like we were getting closer when we saw the following item:

We were almost ready to dig in earnest when we saw, out of the corners of our eyes, the following object:
Which when turned around contained a glass bulb-like mechanism:
Nearby there was another:

And then we noticed, nearby, small red reflective items:
and more of them:

and still more, including some yellow ones:
We carefully placed some into the collection bag:

Puzzled about what it was we had stumbled upon, we searched around us for clues. We saw something which seemed very significant:
Very large trucks, whose decorative details seemed to bear an eerie similarity to the items we were finding in proliferation. The clues were aligned, it was time to start digging. We cased the ideal spot, near the canal and simultaneously near the mysterious objects.
"Q" stands next to our chosen site, in confidence:
We then get our site ready for the hard work of excavation:
And dig!:

Unfortunately, after a short while of digging we found that there was a solid layer of impenetrable concrete two inches below the surface of the soil. We had neglected to bring our concrete blasting equipment.

Alas, we would have to go home with the objects we had culled from above the surface. We found and photographed a few more interesting clues before heading home:

vintage technology cords:

a blue coil:


Back at headquarters, i carefully categorized the findings: