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Had a close call with site damage at the old mill dig in Vermont

I was working on a small team last fall at the 19th century mill site near Burlington. We were about to lift a large piece of millstone from a trench when I noticed a hairline crack we all missed. My professor, Dr. Evans, said 'Stop, that's coming apart if we move it.' We had to stop everything and spend two full days carefully packing the whole area with plaster bandages before we could even think about lifting it. It was a huge delay, but it saved the artifact. Now I triple-check every single piece, no matter how solid it looks, before we even touch it. That one crack changed my whole approach to field work. Has anyone else had a find that almost got ruined because you moved too fast?
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3 Comments
diana_bell74
Been there. That sinking feeling.
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kellyj23
kellyj232mo ago
Sometimes you gotta risk it to save it.
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finleybutler
Sometimes you gotta risk it to save it"? That's exactly how stuff gets broken for good.
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