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That time a professor told me my pottery sherd washing was wrecking the data
I was at a dig in New Mexico last summer, scrubbing these little pottery pieces with a wire brush to get them clean for photos. A visiting archaeologist named Dr. Reyes pulled me aside and said I was scrubbing off the residue that could tell them what was cooked in the pots 800 years ago. Now I just rinse them gently with water and let them air dry, no scrubbing at all. Has anyone else had a basic habit like that completely flipped by a specialist?
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mila_mitchell1d ago
A WIRE BRUSH on 800-year-old pottery?!
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jessicamiller1d ago
OH MY GOD. "A WIRE BRUSH on 800-year-old pottery?!". I literally gasped when I read that. That's not just bad, that's like a CRIME against history. You don't just go scrubbing ancient pottery with a metal brush like it's a dirty frying pan. That clay is probably super fragile and any pattern or paint on it would flake right off. I've seen people ruin old coins with wire brushes too and it makes me so MAD. If that person was a real archaeologist they should know better. That poor pot didn't stand a chance.
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