Guy at a dig site in Abilene kept calling every flint chip a tool, and the site report almost went out with his notes | Archaeology Discoveries - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Guy at a dig site in Abilene kept calling every flint chip a tool, and the site report almost went out with his notes
Two summers back I volunteered on a weekend survey outside Abilene, mostly surface stuff, walking rows and bagging flakes. There was this one guy, retired, been at it maybe four months, and every single piece of chert he picked up went in his bag as a "possible projectile point preform." I am talking 60 plus flakes in one afternoon, all of it debitage from the same little knapping spot. The actual crew lead, a grad student, tried to explain the difference between a finished tool and a broken piece, and this guy cut her off and said the experts always miss the good stuff. Then he pulled out his phone and showed me a Facebook group post as his proof. By the end of the day his bag weighed more than mine and the paperwork said he found 12 artifacts. Has anyone else run into volunteers who won't take a hint from the people actually running the dig?