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The museum volunteer said my trowel angle was wrong at a dig near Flagstaff, and 2 seasons later I finally get it
I was scraping a 1x1 meter unit at a site outside Flagstaff last spring when a volunteer with 30 years of field work pointed out I was holding my trowel at too shallow an angle, which was why I kept slicing through the dirt instead of peeling it back. She showed me how a steeper angle lets you feel the change in soil, and 2 seasons later I can actually spot a pit house floor before I hit it. Why do field schools still teach trowel work as an afterthought when it is the one thing you do every single day?
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simonbell18h ago
That detail about the steeper angle letting you feel the change in soil is the part I want to hear more about. When you say you can spot a pit house floor before you hit it now, is that coming through the trowel itself, like a change in resistance through your hand, or more from the sound and the color shift as you peel back the layer? I ask because I've had instructors say the trowel should almost talk to you, and I never knew if that was just a nice saying or a real skill you build up. Curious how long it took before that feel actually clicked for you.
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