Tools of the Trade

There are some Tools of the Trade that Archaeologists cannot do without...

-The Main Tool of the Trade (ToT) is the Trowel.  Some people use Goldblatts and some use Marshall Towns.  I myself use Marshall Town and have no complaints.

The Square Trowel is the odd bird of the Trowel family.  Not many folks use them but I find that they are more precise and easier to use with burial.

Then there is the regular 45-5 model pointy trowel.  The standard for Field Techs everywhere. 
Where you are troweling down a 10x10 meter block, cleaning up a trench wall, cutting up your lunch fruit, or just poking around in the mud...the Marshalltown is the way to go.

-The next ToT is the Metric measuring tape.  Be it a Lufkin, a Stanley, or other brand its got to be Metric (that's the way of Science folks).  Tapes can be found at most hardware stores, although sometimes it is hard to explain why you need a Metric tape and not a U.S. Standard tape to people.


-Another ToT is the Swiss Army Knife.  Now some people will say "why would I need a knife to do Archaeology?".  To this I say "A knife is a multi-purpose tool, never be without one!".  I have had my for over 15 years and am never without it.  It has been a Tick killer, a twig cutter, a root trimmer (for cleaning up profiles), or lunch time tool.  These knives have lots of usefull tools; saw, atleast one knife, screwdrivers, toothpicks, etc......

-Another ToT that everyone needs is a Water bottle.  Be it a regular plastic bottle, a Nalgene Bottle, or a Camelbak pack they are needed to maintain saturation.