uma_johnson•8d agoProlific Poster

Warning: everyone told me to grid the whole site at 1-meter squares, but I found a 2-meter grid with a metal detector pass first saved us 3 days on a dig in rural Kentucky.

Has anyone else found that sticking to the textbook method can sometimes slow you down more than it helps?

3 comments

3 Comments

Oh man, "real dirt never reads the manual" is the perfect way to put it. I once spent a whole afternoon trying to make a perfect grid on a slope that was basically just loose scree. My supervisor came over, watched for a minute, and just said "Sarah, what are you doing?" Felt like a total rookie. You have to be smart enough to know when the book is just getting in your way.

dakota_nelson438d ago

Textbook methods are a good starting point for sure. But real dirt never reads the manual. Got burned once following a rigid survey plan on a wooded site. Wasted a full week on a grid pattern that the terrain just didn't suit. Sometimes you gotta look at the actual ground and make a call. The books can't account for every slope or rock outcrop. Blindly sticking to the plan is how you lose time and miss things.

hugoc977d ago

Yeah, that's the worst feeling. I mean the books give you a plan but they can't see the actual mess you're standing in. I've had days where I followed the steps exactly and just ended up fighting the site all afternoon. It's like you have to learn when to trust the method and when to trust your own eyes. Getting burned like that is rough but it's how you learn to adapt, I guess.