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That professor who said 'never trust surface finds' gave me bad advice for years
Back in 2017 I found a flint scraper just sitting on top of the soil at a dig site near Carbondale and my advisor told me it was worthless since it wasn't in context. I tossed it in a drawer and only later found out a guy dated a similar tool from the same field to 8,000 BCE using use-wear analysis. Does anyone actually bother to verify surface finds or just write them off like I did?
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walker.cole21d ago
Check the soil staining underneath before you write it off.
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ray_miller4121d ago
Honestly that's a solid tip. I had an old Nova that looked perfect on top but the whole underside was a mess of rust and oil stains. Once I scraped away the grime I realized the frame was basically Swiss cheese. Ngl it saved me from buying a total money pit. Tbh that soil stain trick is one of the best cheap inspection hacks out there.
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