My old professor told me to ignore the small finds, but a button changed my whole dig

Back in college, my archaeology professor always said, 'Focus on the big picture, not the little stuff.' He meant we should care more about building layouts and big artifacts, not things like broken pottery or nails. I took that to heart for a long time. Then, on a volunteer dig at a 19th century farm site in upstate New York, I was sifting through what looked like plain dirt. I almost tossed a tiny, plain metal button. But I kept it. When we showed our finds to the site lead, she got really excited. That button was from a specific New York militia uniform from the 1820s, which totally changed our idea of who lived there. It proved the family had a member in the local guard, something no record had shown. Now I look at every little thing. Has anyone else had a 'small find' totally flip the script on a site?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannahcraig1h ago

Oh man, my professor would hate how much time I spend on pottery shards.

corah7553m ago

Ugh, I feel that. My old archaeology prof would side-eye anyone who got too into cataloging. He was all about the big picture, but those little details are what actually tell the story, right?