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That dig lead was right about not using metal trowels near the old bones
Worked on a site in southern Utah last summer and the lead archaeologist told me to switch to a wooden scraper around any human remains because metal leaves micro scratches that mess up DNA tests. I thought he was being overly careful until I saw a guy from another trench nick a femur with a standard trowel and the sample came back contaminated. Has anyone else had a tool choice totally wreck a sample or artifact?
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joseph_adams661mo ago
Watched a volunteer scrub a pottery sherd with a wire brush and destroy the painted surface right in front of the PI.
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mark_thomas1mo ago
...and I bet the PI just stood there with that look like they'd bitten into a lemon, right? I've done stuff almost that bad, I once tried to dry out a waterlogged coin on a hot car dashboard and it basically turned to powder. Thought I was helping, ended up making a new archaeological mystery for someone to solve a hundred years from now.
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simon_coleman10d ago
The bit about the car dashboard reminded me of a time I watched a guy try to clean a Roman brooch with WD-40. He thought he was being clever, but it just turned into a greasy mess that attracted every bit of dust in the room. Mark Thomas would have had a field day watching that disaster unfold.
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