Sifting Through History, Underwater

One of the most important, dirty and labor intensive aspects of terrestrial archaeology is screening excavated sediments: as above, so below. Well, sort of. Working underwater makes everything more complicated.

Although archaeologists dig very carefully, they often screen excavated material to make sure no important clues are missed. On land, this is most often accomplished by filling buckets with back dirt and dumping them through a 1/4" or 1/8" screen.