How do archeologists uncover bones/vases/glass without breaking them?

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

The digging that is done where you expect to find something is very carefully done. You dig by and with small tools of the type you would use to plant a flower. If the material is soft the right tool might be a brush.

Look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9pGbpIPU-Y

Realy fragile objects can be removed by you dig around them and removing them with the dirt around them. You might reinforce the dirt with a plaster cast just like with a broken bone. The object is then separated from the dirt in a lab. You do that with a lot of care and the tool will be similar to the one used in dentistry.

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