A prof at a field school in Arizona told me to stop bagging everything by depth alone, and it wrecked my whole system | Archaeology Discoveries

Joseph Baker · 2026-10-09T13:00:03.983166+00:00

Back in 2019 I was working a site outside Tucson and I bagged every find by depth layer only, figured that was plenty. The field director pulled me aside and said I was losing the spatial story of each piece, that a point five centimeters off could mean a whole different occupation phase. So I switched to total station points on everything bigger than a thumbnail, plus photos before anything moved. It cost me maybe 20 extra minutes a day, but the report actually holds up now. Anyone else get their method flipped by one comment from a supervisor?

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A prof at a field school in Arizona told me to stop bagging everything by depth alone, and it wrecked my whole system | Archaeology Discoveries - The Community Guide