The CAR team, led by Ray and Lopinot, came to the site with modest expectations. Excavations began with the use of a road grader to remove the plow zone from the site. This material was screened and flotation was used to look for cultural remains (Chandler 2001a). Two test trenches were then dug to a depth of four meters, and four blocks were excavated in 5–10 cm layers to a depth of 2.5 meters. Eighteen deep, continuous sedimentary cores were also taken around the site (Chandler 2001a; Ray et al. 1998:74). This work revealed a much more valuable site than had first been expected and tedious hand excavation techniques were used to investigate the lower levels to maintain contextual information (Chandler 2001a). The 1997 excavations terminated near the base of the Paleoindian deposits at about 3.5 meters below the original surface. Exploratory tests, though, revealed even deeper artifacts, manuports (natural objects moved by human action), and charcoal down to depths of four meters. Dating of these finds were between 12,700 and 13,000 years BP (Ray et al. 2000:68).