Rant: I used to think pottery shards were just junk you walk past on a dig

After a trip to the Chaco Canyon site last summer I now spend 20 minutes hunched over every tiny piece because one guy showed me how a 2-inch rim piece can pinpoint a whole household's timeline from 1050 AD, has anyone else had their view completely flipped by one specific object or site?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_robin1mo ago

Yeah man, that exact thing happened to me with a musket ball at a colonial site! I used to just sift and toss but now I'm staring at every piece of slag like it's got secrets to tell. It's wild how one person showing you the right detail can turn boring old rocks into a whole story.

viola_butler1mo ago

A musket ball? Those things are everywhere at colonial sites, I thought they were basically worthless. You're telling me people can actually get useful info out of a blob of melted lead? That's blowing my mind right now.