Just about wrecked a site with the wrong trowel technique

I was digging at a small Roman site near Bath last summer, working on a shallow trench we thought was just fill. I got too aggressive with the edge of my trowel and scraped straight through a layer of dark soil that turned out to be a post hole. My supervisor noticed the scratch marks before I did... she stopped me and explained how that careless scrape could mix up the dating evidence. We spent an extra 3 hours re-leveling that section with a finer blade and careful brushing. Has anyone else messed up a context with basic tool pressure like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_simon17d ago

Felt a similar panic when I scraped a tiny bone fragment into dust with my trowel edge at a medieval site.

the_linda17d ago

and then that sickening feeling when you realize there's no way to put it back together... @the_simon I had a similar moment at a Roman site, crushing what I thought was just a pebble under my boot and hearing that distinct snap. turned out to be a piece of a pot, the only decorated one we'd found all season. supervisor just looked at me with this dead expression and said "well, I hope you learned something." still bothers me when I think about it, honestly.

victor_robinson17d ago

That line about "no way to put it back together" really hit home. I remember creasing a whole section of what we thought was just a compacted floor, using too much pressure on a flat shovel. Turned out it was a carefully laid clay surface with faint tool marks preserved. My foreman just stood there and said "well, now you know how not to do it." Still think about that one when I'm working any kind of delicate soil.