Question about identifying pottery shards from a dig site near Tucson

I was sorting through a box of what looked like plain brown pottery fragments from a site near Tucson, and after three hours of getting nowhere, I tried holding each piece under a strong desk lamp at a low angle, which suddenly made the faintest fingerprint impressions and cord markings visible, so what other simple lighting tricks have you found for spotting details on artifacts?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_flores3mo ago

Oh man, that low-angle light trick is a total game changer! I had the exact same thing happen with some boring looking bone fragments. I started using a cheap LED flashlight from the side in a dark room, and all these cut marks from tools just popped out. It felt like magic! Trying different colors of light can help too, like a warm light versus a cool white one, because sometimes the contrast picks up different stuff.

the_vera1mo ago

Does anyone know if a polarized light filter works the same way? I read somewhere that placing a cheap camera polarizer over a light source can cut glare on glossy shards and reveal surface details that get washed out by direct reflection. Would love to hear if that's held up for others or if it's more of a niche trick.

jana_davis903mo ago

Ever try a black light? I was working with some plain looking stone tools and a cheap UV flashlight from a hardware store showed up old resin traces that were totally invisible in normal light, which was wild. Kevin_Flores is right about color too, a soft yellow light sometimes works better than harsh white for seeing texture on really worn ceramics.