Page 305 - Green - Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook. 2nd ed

284 Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook, Second Edition
after conservation, several individual objects may have been extracted from the object, each requiring a separate registration number.
Dump numbers are also very useful for common types of poor quality or unidentifiable artifacts. A registration number is selected, and any items belonging to that particular type can then be registered under that number. This is particularly useful for items such as eroded musket balls, ceramic wall shards, (subdivided by material, stoneware, earthenware, porcelain, etc.), and scraps of lead or copper sheeting. The numbers can, if necessary, be used for areas or grid squares. Each time another object is added to the dump number the total is increased. In this way the register is not cluttered with needless or trivial registrations. Once again caution is recommended, and an assessment of the potential of the material should be made to deter- mine if it is likely to be a help or a hindrance to individually register each fragment. For example, if each part of a fragmentary object is individually registered and tagged prior to conservation, it will be almost impossible to sort or fit fragments together until the often lengthy conservation proce- dures are completed. It is therefore suggested that a temporary recon- struction be effected as soon as possible, so that if any fragments are missing, a search for them can be initiated (Figure 10.6). It is also recom- mended that the object be given a single registration number. Alternatively, material that comes from a particular area may belong to a number of dif- ferent objects. In this case a temporary bulk number will enable the frag- ments to be kept together; after sorting and temporary reconstruction, the assembled or partially assembled objects can be individually registered.
In the field, it is worth taking as many measurements and photographs as possible. This serves as a registration backup, particularly the photogra- phy. If photographs are processed and recorded chronologically and an error occurs in registration, it may be possible to retrieve the lost informa- tion from the site and field artifact photograph. In some cases, it may be worth photographing each excavator’s artifacts prior to registration. A fixed camera tower, board, and scale can be set up and the excavator’s material placed on the board prior to registration. A slate with the relevant details is placed in the view and a photograph taken (see the relevant sections in this chapter ). Finally, taking lots of photographs is a good thing, but unless one can find or retrieve the photograph the process is worthless, so keeping records of photographs is also important.
IV. ADDITIONAL RECORDING
Although artifact drawing (Chapter 11) and artifact photography (Chapter 12) can be used to record most artifacts, there are some situations