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That time my trowel handle snapped mid-dig at the Sutton Hoo site
Last summer I was working a field school near Woodbridge and my old Marshalltown trowel just gave up on me around 2 PM on day 3. The wooden handle split right in half while I was scraping back a layer of sandy loam, which left me using a plastic picnic fork for the next hour while I walked back to the supply tent. Has anyone else had a favorite tool break at the worst possible moment during a dig?
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morgan5123d ago
My Marshalltown handle went the same way on a wet Tuesday at a Roman villa site, right when I was trying to impress the site director with my scraping skills. I ended up finishing the day using a bent butter knife from the site kitchen, which definitely did not help me look professional. At least you had a picnic fork, I had to explain to everyone why I was digging with something from the cutlery drawer.
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piper_flores692d ago
Reminds me of how so much of life is just making do with whatever junk is nearby when the proper stuff fails you. It's like that universal law where nothing breaks at a convenient time, only when you're already in a pinch trying to look good. My sister once had her car key snap off in the ignition right before a job interview, and she ended up using a hairpin to start her engine. Always seems to happen when you're trying hardest to impress someone, doesn't it?
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