A museum curator told me my artifact cleaning method was 'aggressive scrubbing'...

I was prepping some pottery shards from a dig near Santa Fe for display and using a stiff brush to get the dirt off. This older curator walked by and said 'you're basically sandblasting those sherds with that thing.' She handed me a soft paintbrush and a bowl of distilled water instead. Now I spend twice as long cleaning pieces but I haven't scratched a single surface since. Anybody else get called out for damaging finds by accident?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty_perry248d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain! I once used a wire brush on an old iron buckle I found metal detecting, thinking I was getting that rust off real good. Turned out I was just scraping away the original surface and some cool markings underneath. This oldtimer at the local history club saw what I did and basically gave me a lecture about how I ruined a hundred year old artifact. I still cringe thinking about it. Now I just use a toothbrush and patience, even if it takes forever. Some lessons you gotta learn the hard way I guess.

emma_wells837d ago

That "old timer gave me a lecture" part really got me. I had a similar thing happen with a guy at the flea market who saw me wiping down a brass compass with a dry cloth and just about had a heart attack. Said I was "burnishing the patina off a perfectly good instrument." Now I'm paranoid about everything. I actually keep a little dish of distilled water and a soft bristle toothbrush in a bag with my finds now. It feels ridiculous but I'd rather look like a weirdo than get another history lesson from some retired archaeologist who can spot a microfiber scratch from ten feet away. Plus, I figure if I'm gonna spend hours digging up old junk, I might as well not turn it into new junk in the process.