Brooklyn's Eighteenth-Century Lott House: Tools of the Trade


Tools of the Trade	"Brooklyn's Eighteenth-Century Lott House" 1999-2001

STADIA ROD

A stadia rod read from a surveyor's transit reveals the elevation of a point on the ground so excavators know how deep they've dug and can compare the depth of features to see if they relate. (Courtesy Brooklyn College) [LARGER IMAGE]

TROWEL

Using a trowel, an excavator carefully cleans a scarp to prepare it for photographing and drawing. (Courtesy Brooklyn College) [LARGER IMAGE]

BRUSH

An excavator uses a brush to delicately remove lightly packed dirt to expose a feature. (Courtesy Brooklyn College) [LARGER IMAGE]

SCREEN

Students sift excavated soil in search of small artifacts like nails, ceramic fragments, and organic material like seeds, shell, and bone. (Courtesy Brooklyn College) [LARGER IMAGE]

CORER

Students learn to use a corer--a long, narrow tool that twists into the ground to pull up a vertical sample of soil, enabling archaeologists to view underlying strata without excavating an entire trench. (Elizabeth Himelfarb and Amélie Walker) Read about a corer in action. [LARGER IMAGE]