Agora dig: day 7

...From the bottom of the well.

Today was more well work, so I will discuss this today: What happens after things are pulled out of the well?

They go through a process:

1. The are put through a screening process first. What are we looking for? Things that are out of the ordinary: coins, glass, bone, shell, painted plaster, pottery sherds, anything with inscriptions on it. We also keep an eye out for anything that appears worked.

Aspa and Emily sifting through well material.

2. They are then divided into different buckets/bags, depending on what they are. Pottery that is fairly intact, or unique (inscriptions/painting) will be given their own bucket to be tagged and sent to conservation right away.

Pottery being sorted.

3. The pottery (and bones) are then shipped off to a place called "Pottery Washing" where... guess what happens? You got it, pottery is washed. Some excavators don't like this, but I find it a welcome change, and relaxing.

4. The pottery/bones are then divided into like shapes/sizes, and put in order to be photographed.

Organizing pottery sherds.

Bones, organized

Sherds, organized

5. Finally, the pottery/bones are put into storage containers, until the end of the season, when then will be looked at more carefully. And who knows, maybe years from now, someone can use this information in their research. It is understood that the things that we are finding now may not even be looked at for 10-20, maybe even 30 years from now. Compared to most other things in life, this is an incredibly slow process: from earth to publication.