Thanks to Jim Theler for this week’s post –The Marshalltown TrowelNo tool says “ar

Thanks to Jim Theler for this week’spost –The Marshalltown TrowelNo tool says “archaeology” better than the Marshalltown pointingtrowel—perhaps the most iconic, all-purpose tool in American archaeology. Thesetrowels are nearly indestructible, forged from a single piece of high-carbonsteel and fitted with a hardwood handle. Pointing trowels were developed for useby masons in spreading concrete and plaster. In 1890, two brothers inMarshalltown, Iowa, began to make trowels by special order, and the popularityof their trowels led to the incorporation of the Marshalltown Trowel Company in1905. Archaeologists have long used the 4- and 6-inch trowels for many detailedaspects of archaeological excavations. The Marshalltown trowels shown here are from the field kit ofJim Theler. The two on the left were gifts he received in 1971. They havedouble grooves or “bands” on the handle, a feature that appeared on Marshalltowntrowels as early as 1927 and continued into the early 1970s. By 1974 thegrooves were no longer added to the handles—note the plain handle on the trowelto the right. Today, one can purchase a 4-inch “Archaeology Pointing Trowel”with a holster from the Marshalltown Company, and trowels can now be had withvarious synthetic handles. In addition to the excavation of features such as storagepits, trowels are most useful for “cleaning” excavation profiles (verticalwalls) and “unit” floors. A brand-new trowel needs to have its convex edges removedand sharpened with a file, and most archaeologists keep a file in their toolkitto keep the edges sharp. Why are sharp edges needed? As Theler was taught inhis first field school, one doesn’t “scrape” a floor or profile, one “cuts” afloor or profile. A sharp trowel allows the excavator to cut and peel away athin layer of sediment and slice through rootlets without smearing the soilsurface. The clean surface can then be examined for stratigraphy or the outlinesof features. The small trowel on the left has been so reduced by endless resharpeningthat it is now retired. For additional information see: the “Marshalltown Trowel Company:Official Marshalltown Websitehttps://marshalltown.com/Mark Stansbury “Troweland Masonry Tool Collector Resource” posted online Dec. 8, 2017http://trowelcollector.blogspot.com/2017/12/ -- source link

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