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Had to choose between a hand dig and a backhoe on a site last week
I volunteer with a local archaeology group here in Portland on weekends, and we were working on this old homestead site from the 1880s. We hit a spot where the ground was super compacted with clay and rocks, and the lead archaeologist gave us two options: spend three more days hand-digging with trowels and brushes, or bring in a small backhoe to strip the top layer fast. I was torn because hand-digging feels more careful but the backhoe could save so much time. We ended up going with the backhoe since the weather forecast had rain coming in two days, and honestly it worked out great. The operator was super skilled and we found a whole row of bottles and a cast iron stove piece that would have taken forever to uncover by hand. But part of me still wonders if we missed any tiny artifacts churned up in the dirt pile. Has anyone else had to make a call between speed and precision on a dig?
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kai_butler8323d ago
Those backhoe operators who actually care about the work are worth their weight in gold. I've seen guys on construction sites just gouge everything out like they're scooping ice cream, no attention paid. But a good operator can shave off layers thin as a trowel cut if you have them. The rain deadline made the call for you, which honestly happens more often than people admit. You probably lost a few tiny shards or buttons in the pile, but you gained a whole row of bottles and a stove that might've taken you a week to free up properly. Next time you could screen the spoil pile for an hour just to see what the bucket churned up, that usually keeps the guilt away.
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julia_miller2423d ago
Oh man, I've definitely been on the wrong end of that ice cream scoop approach more times than I'd like to admit. My backhoe skills are about as refined as using a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame.
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