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Got told my field notes looked like a grocery list, and honestly, it stung
A professor I really respect looked at my dig notes from a site in Tucson last year and said they were 'painfully thin on context.' He pointed out I was just listing finds, like 'pottery shard, level 2,' without saying where in the unit or what it was near. I felt pretty dumb, but he was right. Now I force myself to sketch little maps in my notebook for every layer and write three sentences about the soil color and any disturbances I see. It adds maybe 15 minutes per unit, but my site director says the reports are way more useful. Has anyone else had to totally re-learn how they record basic stuff in the field?
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gavin3651mo ago
Tell me about the sketch maps. Do you use a specific scale for each unit, or is it more of a quick "this thing was left of that thing" diagram to jog your memory later?
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jana8811mo ago
What works for you, a scale or a quick sketch?
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caseythompson1mo ago
Ugh yeah, that hits home. My first field school, I got so focused on getting the measurements perfect for a feature that I totally blanked on writing down what the soil actually looked like. My notebook just said 'dark brown' for like six layers. My supervisor asked me later if it was moist or dry, if there were roots, and I had nothing. Felt like such a waste. Now I make myself do a dumb little haiku in my head for each change: "brown and dry like toast, small rocks, smells like dirt, the end." It's stupid but it works.
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the_thomas4d ago
Yeah but honestly, is a notebook being "thin" the end of the world? You found the stuff and recorded it.
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