Post by Emily Rocha, PSU undergraduate and Lab Tech for the Climate Change and Archaeology Project
This quarter I have spent a lot of time sorting piles of material. The hardest part is when the items that have gone through the smallest screen – 1/8″. Mostly there is only wood and antler left and they can be hard to tell apart. Something that I have been especially interested in this term is finding modified items. The first modified item I came across was a small piece of ivory with a hole in the center. On first glace I thought it was too small to be important. Another student pointed out that it was possibly some sort of toggle for clothing. I also enjoy finding seal teeth, as can be seen in a tray in the second photo. Once I knew how to identify fish bones they have been fun to identify as well.