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Showerthought: I spent three whole days trying to match a single pottery sherd

Back in 2008, I was on a dig in New Mexico cataloging a bunch of Anasazi pottery. Found one piece with a weird, faded black line pattern. The site lead said it was probably just a common Mesa Verde style, but it didn't look right to me. I spent the next 72 hours going through every reference book and box of labeled fragments we had on site, even calling a professor at the local college. Turns out it was a rare Kayenta trade piece from over 200 miles away, which totally changed our view of that pit's timeline. Anyone else ever get stuck on one tiny detail that ended up being a big deal?
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4 Comments
parker_palmer44
Three days for one piece of broken pot, man. I once spent a whole weekend trying to figure out why my car's check engine light was on, only to find out the gas cap was loose. Your story is way cooler, but I feel that pain of getting stuck on one tiny thing. At least you changed history, I just felt dumb at the auto parts store lol.
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spencer_owens58
A whole weekend for a gas cap?
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wendy131
wendy13114d ago
Tightened mine and the light went right off.
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skyler_jackson27
Sounds like my entire grad school experience.
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