Vent: My whole approach to pottery shards was wrong for like five years

Used to just sort them by color and size, thought that was good enough. Then at a dig in New Mexico last fall, the site lead showed me how to look for temper material under a 10x loupe. Started grouping by grit type instead, like crushed basalt versus sand. Completely changed how we pieced together a cooking pot from the 1200s. Anyone else had to totally re-learn a basic sorting method?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ryan2mo ago

It's crazy how often the basic way we sort things is just the first guess, not the best one. I see it all the time with people organizing their tools or even their music playlists. They start by what's easy to see, like color or genre, and miss the deeper system that actually makes sense, like the job the tool does or the mood of the song.

the_mason2mo agoMost Upvoted

Ever sort by how often you actually use stuff?

charlie_fisher451mo ago

Picked up a knack for sorting rocks from my grandpa who used to separate his tackle box by lure weight instead of color. @the_mason your question about use frequency hit home - I realized I was organizing my camping gear by size, but that just meant the stuff I grabbed most was always buried under bigger things. Switched to grouping by how often I pack them, and now my tent stakes are next to my headlamp instead of crammed in with the rain fly. It's funny how a little shift in thinking can save you so much time, even if you felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner.