Why does nobody talk about how easy it is to misdate pottery

I spent 3 years classifying sherds from a site in New Mexico based on rim shape alone. Then a visiting professor took one look and pointed out the paste composition was completely different from the period I thought it was. Has anyone else had their whole timeline thrown off by one detail?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_park812d ago

The thing is, this kind of mistake happens all the time in everyday life too... everybody just assumes something based on one little detail. Like how people will say someone "looks dishonest" because of their face, or think a car is reliable just because it's clean. We're all just pattern-matching on incomplete info. One wrong clue and your whole story falls apart, whether it's pottery or people.

grant.nina11d ago

Agree with most of that @parker_park8, but I'd push back a little on the car example. A clean car can actually be a decent sign someone takes care of it, just like a messy car sometimes means they're in a rush or don't care much. But yeah, you're right that we oversimplify way too often.