That comment about bagged artifacts lost in the field changed how I catalog everything

I was digging on a site near Santa Fe two summers ago and the lead archaeologist told me my field bag labels were too vague like 'pottery shreds' instead of exact coordinates. He said something like 'if your bag gets mixed up, that piece of history is gone forever' and that hit me hard. Has anyone else had a small labeling mistake mess up a whole dig season?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianm661mo ago

Yep, once labeled a bag 'miscellaneous rocks' and it was actually a rare tool, oops.

jessica7071mo agoTop Commenter

I saw a YouTube video where a guy found an arrowhead in a box labeled "junk rocks" at an estate sale. Ended up being worth a couple hundred bucks.

brianreed1mo ago

Wonder how many treasures got thrown away thinking they were just junk