Volunteer dig went sideways when I pulled up a rusted pipe instead of pottery

I was helping out at a site near Santa Fe last weekend, just sifting through a trench they'd opened up. The supervisor pointed at a dark patch and said 'gently excavate that feature', so I spent 45 minutes brushing away dirt super careful. Turned out it was an old irrigation pipe from the 1970s, not some prehistoric artifact. The crew lead just sighed and told me to backfill the hole, which felt like a total waste of a Saturday. Has anyone else gotten excited over a piece of trash that looked way too promising?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily5111mo agoTop Commenter

Why do they always point you at the junk spots? I've totally been there, spent way too long on something that ends up being a broken sprinkler head. At least you got a story out of it, even if the pottery didn't show.

karen_sanchez101mo ago

Right? Classic metal detecting bait and switch. A story's worth something though.