A talk with a dig volunteer changed how I see pottery shards

I was helping at a site in southern Utah last fall, sorting through a bucket of broken pottery. A retired teacher named Helen was working next to me and picked up a small, plain piece. She said, 'This wasn't just dropped. Someone carried water in this, maybe 800 years ago, and it broke on a hot day.' She pointed to the curve of the fragment, showing how it fit in your hand. That one sentence made me stop just seeing artifacts and start seeing people. Has anyone else had a simple comment from a fellow volunteer make a find feel more real?

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4 Comments

nathankim6mo ago

Makes you wonder about the person who dropped it.

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olivercraig6mo ago

Yeah, my mate found a single car key in a field once. He spent weeks, @nathankim, making up a whole life for the guy who lost it. The story in his head was way better than the truth, which was just some bloke who got too drunk at a barbecue.

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charles_baker286mo ago

Ever think the made-up story is the real point?

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marybutler4mo ago

Has anyone else had a random object totally mess with your head like that? @nathankim, that car key thing reminds me of finding a single earring in a parking lot once - I spent the whole day picturing what kind of fancy party the owner was probably rushing out of when it fell off.

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