Old timer at a dig in Colorado told me I was brushing too fast and missing half the details

He said 'slow down, you're not cleaning a pan' and after I tried his pace I started finding tiny bone fragments I'd have totally blasted away, anyone else get called out on their technique like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilymurphy2d ago

My buddy Dave from the Denver club got the same talk last summer at a site near Cañon City. He was using that fast side-to-side motion like he was scrubbing a countertop, and the lead volunteer just stood there shaking her head until he noticed. She told him he was probably sending good stuff into the tailings pile and handed him a softer brush. He slowed way down and within ten minutes found three little rodent teeth he would have completely missed. Now he swears by the slow method and jokes that fast brushing is just for people who hate finding things.

hannah_price792d ago

Man, that story about Dave and the fast brushing is exactly something I’d do. My uncle tried the same thing when we were at a dig near Moab last year. He was whipping that brush around like he was scrubbing a grill, and I had to grab his wrist to get him to slow down. Once he did, he pulled out this tiny fossilized crab claw that was maybe a quarter inch long. @lilymurphy, your buddy’s dead on about that method sending stuff flying.