Abby K. asks: do you ever get to personally keep something you find at a site?
The short answer is no.
The Maxwell presents excursions to various archaeological sites around the state. Most recently we visited a site situated on a low elevation 200 m south of Chaco Wash, It is on the lower north slope of Chacra Mesa at the margin of a broad floodplain in Chaco Wash.
There are pot sherds in the area and our guide Archaeologist Tom Windes identified sherds by style, construction and color. After identification the sherds are not removed, they are placed back on the ground in the exact location where they are found. It’s important to keep artifacts at the location found so that future researchers can make accurate notes and reports about archaeological sites.
