PSA: Don't let volunteers clean artifacts without proper training

Last summer on a dig near Casper, Wyoming, a volunteer scrubbed a 2,000 year old bison bone with a wire brush. It destroyed the cut marks we needed for analysis. Has anyone else dealt with well-meaning helpers causing damage on site?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimw5714h ago

I've been on a lot of digs over the years and I'm not sure it's always that serious. A wire brush on a bison bone is a bad move for sure, but I've seen folks get all worked up over a volunteer picking up a flake wrong. Half the time the damage is so minor it doesn't matter for the study. I've also seen trained students scratch up ceramics with their fingernails just setting them down. It's a risk either way, volunteers or not. Sometimes you just have to decide if the help is worth a few small scuffs.

wells.christopher14h ago

..and that's exactly why I always say any volunteer handling artifacts needs to be supervised like a hawk, even after basic training. A quick 20 minute orientation isn't enough when you've got fragile lithics or bone with visible use-wear. I've seen folks accidentally scrape off patination or break a point just by picking it up wrong. Your mileage may vary, but most places I've worked have a "no unsupervised handling" rule for the first season at minimum. It's not about being rude to volunteers, it's about protecting the stuff we're all there to study.

charles83613h ago

That "20 minute orientation" thing is exactly the problem - I've never seen a place that actually tests volunteers on what they retained from training before letting them loose, which seems like an obvious middle ground nobody tries lol.