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I was brushing off a piece of pottery for months before a grad student pointed out my mistake | Archaeology Discoveries - nhfree.com

gray_kim91•7mo ago

I was brushing off a piece of pottery for months before a grad student pointed out my mistake

I volunteer at a dig site near Tucson, mostly cleaning finds. For months, I had this one piece of brown pottery I was working on. I'd gently brush it with a soft toothbrush, thinking I was being careful. Last week, a grad student from the university was visiting. She watched me for a minute and then said, 'You know, that's not dirt... it's a carbonized residue, maybe from food.' I was just scrubbing away potential evidence the whole time. She showed me how to use a wooden pick to carefully flake off the actual dirt around it instead. Felt like a total idiot... I'd been treating every dark spot like simple soil. Has anyone else had a moment where they learned a basic field technique way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

ellis.susan7mo ago

That Tucson sun probably baked that residue on pretty good anyway.

skyler8007mo ago

My buddy left a water bottle in his car cup holder all last summer, and @ellis.susan, you're totally right about that sun. It basically welded a permanent ring into the plastic. He tried every cleaner in his garage. That thing is now a science experiment, a monument to Arizona heat. Just a crusty, ghostly outline that's never coming off.

jesse_craig266mo ago

Actually, that ring might still come out with the right method. @ellis.susan, the sun baked it for sure, but it didn't melt the plastic itself. That crust is just super dried spill. A good interior cleaner and a plastic razor blade made for car trim would probably scrape it right off without a scratch. People give up too fast on these things. Letting a cleaner soak in for a while breaks down almost anything, even Arizona heat glue. His garage cleaners probably weren't meant for car plastic.