Used to dig test pits with a shovel and screen, now I use a coring auger after a site supervisor chewed me out for disturbing too much soil in a sensitive area

Back in 2019 I was on a field school in New Mexico and we were digging these big test pits to find midden deposits. Supervisor told me I was basically bulldozing through stratigraphy with the shovel. Switched to a 4-inch Oakfield coring auger and it changed how I sample. Way less destruction and you can actually see the soil layers before you dig. Has anyone else switched from shovel to core on a survey and noticed a big difference in what you find?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan65324d agoMost Upvoted

That Oakfield auger is solid but honestly field schools tend to overhype how "sensitive" most sites actually are unless you're digging in a burial ground or something.

amy85824d ago

You said field schools "overhype" sensitivity, but what about sites that have plow zones or mixed fill layers where the stratigraphy is already disturbed? I've seen plenty of those where a shovel test or auger can miss a buried feature by a foot or two, especially if you're only sampling every 10 meters. How do you handle something like a precontact hearth that's been compressed under decades of farming? Seems like the real issue is reading the ground conditions, not just the tool.