Had to pick between a trowel and a brush for that fragile Roman mosaic

I was working on a dig site near Bath last month and came across a small section of a Roman mosaic with loose tesserae. I had to choose between using a fine trowel to lift the tiles or a soft brush to clear the dirt around them first. I went with the brush, sweeping away the loose soil gently, and it let me see the edges without damaging anything. Turned out the mortar underneath was crumbling and the trowel would have smashed it all. Has anyone else run into this choice on a delicate find and picked wrong?

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2 Comments

evaperez1mo ago

Yeah nah that totally changed my mind, brush is clearly the safer call.

6

the_river1mo ago

Totally feel you on that, brush just makes sense.

10