Had a mishap at a dig site in New Mexico last spring

I was brushing away dirt from a pot sherd when my elbow knocked over the whole tray of labeled finds, mixing everything up. Spent the rest of the afternoon sorting 40 pieces by color and texture, which taught me to always keep my tools on the other side. Anybody else have a clumsy moment that messed up their field notes?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese_perry62d ago

Oh man, that's rough! I did something similar at a site in Colorado a couple years back. I was squatting down labeling some lithic flakes and my water bottle rolled right off my pack, smacked into the screening station, and sent a whole batch of charcoal samples flying into the dirt. It took me like two hours to try and separate the carbon bits from the regular soil with a magnifying glass. Still can't believe I didn't just toss the whole thing lol.

dylanwilliams2d ago

But you put in the time anyway, which is exactly the kind of thing that separates people who just pass through something from people who actually care about their work. It's funny how that little extra effort in the moment @reese_perry6 ends up building a reputation you don't even realize you're making.