How a wonky grid almost wrecked my dig

I was on a dig a while back where we set up a grid system like always. But after a few days, the artifact locations made no sense. We found Roman coins in layers that should have been Iron Age. We found out our grid poles had shifted in the soft soil. I spent a whole night re-measuring with a laser level I borrowed from a surveyor friend. Once we fixed the grid, everything fell into place. Now I always check my grid alignment twice before I start digging. It seems obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people skip that step.

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3 Comments

val_craig7mo ago

Oof, triple-check your grid alignment, it's a lifesaver.

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rivere527mo ago

Wait, roman coins in iron age layers? That must have made your brain hurt trying to figure it out. I can just picture the total confusion on site before someone finally checked the stakes. @val_craig is totally right, triple-checking is the only way. Having to re-measure everything overnight with a borrowed laser sounds like a special kind of torture. That's a solid lesson learned the very hard way.

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the_derek7mo ago

Nah, triple checking everything just kills the vibe and wastes so much time. Sometimes you gotta just trust your setup and roll with the weird finds, makes the story better.

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