TIL I was scrubbing pottery shards way too hard for 3 years

I volunteer at the local dig site near the riverbed on weekends. For the last three springs I've been using a stiff toothbrush to clean every fragment I found. Last Tuesday the field director watched me for about 30 seconds then handed me a soft paintbrush and a spray bottle. Turns out I was scraping off tool marks and residue that tell you how the piece was actually used. Felt like an idiot but also learned more in that one afternoon than the whole previous season. Anyone else have a mentor catch them doing something boneheaded?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen_sanchez1019d ago

Read something similar about people cleaning arrowheads with wire brushes and ruining the flaking patterns. Guess it's a common mistake for volunteers to think scrubbing = better.

milabaker19d ago

Soft bristle brush and water does the trick just fine.