eva908•21d ago

I finally realized why my pottery digs kept turning up nothing useful

I was out at a site near Santa Fe last month, digging through a test pit I set up near an old wash. I spent 4 hours sifting dirt and only found a few tiny sherds that were probably recent trash. Then this old volunteer who's been doing this for 20 years walked over and pointed out I was digging in a runoff zone where the water would have washed everything away. He showed me a spot 30 feet uphill on a terrace, and within 20 minutes I pulled up a partial corrugated jar that looked like it was from 1200 AD. Made me rethink how I pick dig locations based on maps vs. what the ground actually tells you. Has anyone else had a site trick you like that because of old water patterns?

2 comments

2 Comments

rodriguez.diana21d ago

Water patterns are the biggest trick in the book. Maps don't show you where the rain used to run. Old terraces are where everything settled, not the flat bottom. Glad that volunteer pointed it out before you gave up.

the_hugo20d ago

Is finding old ditches really that deep, lol?