Remember when field archaeologists had to draw everything by hand?

I started digging back in the late 90s and we'd spend hours at the site sketching each layer with pencils and graph paper. One mistake meant erasing and redrawing the whole section, it was a real pain. Fast forward to last week at a dig in northern New Mexico, and I watched a student snap a dozen photos with a tablet and have a 3D model done in 20 minutes. The accuracy is wild now, like sub-millimeter stuff we could only dream of. But I still kinda miss the quiet focus of sitting there with a clipboard and a sharp 2H pencil. Has anyone else noticed how much faster the younger crew works compared to how we used to do it?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenh561mo ago

Wait, are we acting like this is a real problem now?

avery_ross1mo ago

Has anyone actually looked at the data on how this impacts small businesses compared to big corporations? Because I found a local study that shows smaller shops are getting hit way harder than the chains. Might be worth checking before we label it a fake issue.

knight.felix1mo ago

@karenh56 you ever think we might be losing something intangible with all this speed?