Proving that I'm not the only archaeo-geek in the world, archaeologist Rene Botts of the Nebraska State Historical Society is willing to pay up to $US50 for any and all True Temper No. 2 light-weight shovels in good condition, the perfect excavation shovel by her lights, and apparently no longer being produced. I totally get this, as does Anthony Cagle (ArchaeoBlog) who brought this story to our attention.
Alas, the shovels illustrated here are not the longed-for True Temper No. 2, which has an inverted U-shaped leading edge that (speaking for my crew) we always made the hard way, trimming the point off and filing the edge with a bench grinder. For those who think of archaeology as a glamorous profession, take note of our deep and abiding affection for the tools of a working person.
Proving that I'm not the only archaeo-geek in the world, archaeologist Rene Botts of the Nebraska State Historical Society is willing to pay up to $US50 for any and all True Temper No. 2 light-weight shovels in good condition, the perfect excavation shovel by her lights, and apparently no longer being produced. I totally get this, as does Anthony Cagle (ArchaeoBlog) who brought this story to our attention.
Alas, the shovels illustrated here are not the longed-for True Temper No. 2, which has an inverted U-shaped leading edge that (speaking for my crew) we always made the hard way, trimming the point off and filing the edge with a bench grinder. For those who think of archaeology as a glamorous profession, take note of our deep and abiding affection for the tools of a working person.
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Great story! I completely understand the desire for the correct shovel.
Recently, I was skimming for features in the bottom of a sewer line trench I was monitoring. Using the line crews worst shovel, they were amazed at how much dirt an archaeologist could move while leaving a perfectly flat floor in a hosrt bit of time.
Archaeologists are highly skilled diggers!