Finally clued in why my field notes were useless after a dig coordinator sighed at my sketchbook near Silchester last June

I spent years drawing fancy artifact profiles instead of just writing down grid coordinates and depth first, and that one look from the lead made me realize nobody actually cares about my artistic shading when they just want to know which trench section the pot sherd came from - has anyone else had a mentor embarrass you into fixing your documentation habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.xena21d ago

Got slapped with the same reality check at a field school in Portugal. Spent an hour drawing this beautiful little Roman coin in perfect shading and the director just looked at me and said where's the level and datum? I was pissed at first but then realized the next student had their whole table of coordinates done in ten minutes while I was still fussing with pencil strokes. Now I don't even bother sketching anything unless I can scribble exact depths and provenience numbers right next to it in under 30 seconds. The pretty drawings are just extra now, not the main point. Took me way too long to understand field notes are about speed and accuracy, not making a museum display.

kai46321d ago

Finally, a use for all those hours spent perfecting your shading technique - absolutely none of them.