PSA: The dig at the old Roman fort in Caerleon changed my whole view on field notes

I was working on a trench near the amphitheater last summer, and my supervisor made me redraw a section three times. He said my first sketch missed a clear soil change just 20 centimeters down. Now I spend twice as long on each drawing, checking every layer with a trowel edge before I put pencil to paper. Has anyone else had a site boss drill a basic skill into them like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

piperbailey19d agoMost Upvoted

Totally get that. My first field school boss was brutal about context sheets. She'd make us list every single find, even tiny shell fragments. Seemed pointless until we had to match a bunch of scattered bone to a single burial pit months later. That paperwork was the only thing that saved us. Never complained about a form again.

mason_fisher19d ago

Heard a podcast where an archaeologist said his team almost missed a whole Roman floor mosaic because someone didn't write down the exact depth of some plain pottery sherds. How often does that kind of small note end up being the key to a big find later?

the_wendy19d ago

Good supervisors are worth their weight in gold.

dakota41519d ago

Used to think field notes were just busywork until I found a medieval hearth everyone else walked past. My notes on soil color and stone placement were the only reason we spotted it. Now I write down every single detail, even if it seems stupid at the time. That little charcoal patch rewrote the whole site timeline.