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A retired dig lead in Tucson told me I was cleaning pottery wrong and I have been thinking about it for 3 months
Back in 2021 I volunteered on a survey near Tucson and was pretty proud of how fast I could brush dirt off sherds with a dry toothbrush. The retired dig lead watched me for a minute and said I was scrubbing off the slip and any residue that could tell us how the pot was used. At first I figured he was just old school, but he showed me a rim piece where my brushing had already wiped away the dark band that would have shown what got cooked in it. Now I only rinse with water and a soft brush, and I bag the dirt around each sherd instead of dumping it, which feels slow but I get why he pushed it. Does anyone here know a good field guide for wet vs dry cleaning, or did you just learn it from someone yelling at you too?
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