Spent 10 years brushing dirt off artifacts the wrong way near Mesa Verde

I was out on a dig in Colorado, cleaning what I thought was a plain pottery sherd with a stiff brush like always. A visiting professor from the local college saw me and kindly asked if I wanted to ruin the surface details. Turns out soft brushes and gentle water rinses are the way to go for most things. I had been scraping off ancient fingerprints and tool marks for a decade. Has anyone else had a basic technique fail them this badly?

2 comments

2 Comments

umamurphy20d ago

Ugh, I spent two years using a metal trowel on fragile bones in Wyoming.

grant90120d ago

Man, come on, is scraping off a few tool marks really THAT big of a deal? @umamurphy and I have all made mistakes, but the dirt is still gonna tell its story. Unless you're trying to sell the thing, a little wear just gives it character.