Sorry if the flair tag is wrong, but as the title suggests, how do archaeologists find fragile items like these without damaging them? At first I thought they would need shovels or heavy equipment to get below the surface, this however seems like a risky method. Do they find the fragments then later piece them together? Do they use tiny tools and those little brushes all the way down to the extraction point?
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We do sometimes use a backhoe to remove the overburden of dirt to get closer to grave shaft level. Archaeologists monitor the backhoe as it removes shallow levels of dirt to make a trench & we are trained to recognize the changes in soil color & identify features, such as grave shafts. We may take it down several feet with the backhoe & then switch to hand excavation with flat shovels, excavating 1m x 1m units in the trench to locate grave shafts, & screening the removed soil through 1/4 inch wire mesh to catch any artifacts or bone fragments. When we find a grave shaft, it gets an identifying number & we record measurements, soil texture & color, take GPS points, depths based off of our site datum, photos w/ board of site/unit data & N arrow, write descriptive excav notes & make drawings. We proceed with flat shovels until a coffin/coffin hardware is located or bones are found or the soil color changes to darker, coarser texture indicating decomp. Switch to a trowel & dustpan to remove larger quantities of dirt from around the bones but you NEVER trowel bones & it’s bad practice to use use metal, like dental picks. Decomposing bone can be incredibly fragile, esp if the environment is not conducive to good preservation, such as being water-logged or freeze/thaw region or acidic soils. We use softer tools only when removing the soil immediately around bones, as well as any accompanying clothing, grave goods or coffin hardware. For working in close contact with bones, I personally use 2 sizes of bamboo calligraphy pens (just the sharpened wooden pen, no ink ofc) & a wooden spoon & cardboard ramekins & synthetic brushes of several sizes. We work in teams of 2, each person on a lateral side to expose the bones as they lie, without moving or damaging them with tools. I find it’s better to hold tools parallel with the bone surface, as opposed to the point end of a tool going toward the bone, to avoid damage. You work methodically & carefully but as rapidly as is safe, removing all of the soil around the bones until the remains are completely exposed (such cold language but it’s the pro term). Then document completely again, all of the data recording mentioned above. After that, we remove the last bits of soil connecting the bone w/ the ground, very gently lift the bones & place in packaging (artifact bags if in sturdy condition; acid-free tissue paper, foil & bubble wrap if poor preservation) for transport to lab for cleaning & analysis. It takes me 2 days with a solid dig partner to completely expose & lift 1 set of human remains, tho the weather conditions can be a big factor. Once you start tho, it has to be completed as quickly as is safe, because the bones can’t stay exposed to environmental conditions for too long without being damaged.
Sorry for writing so much- nice to actually know an ELI5!😄
Source: am a professional archaeologist with exhumation experience
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