If you enter a convenience store and glimpse a guy or gal covered in sweat and dirt, they may not be a local landscaper or construction worker. It might be your local Archaeologists fresh from the field, using the facilities or grabbing a quick drink or snack.

Archaeology is a Dirty Business.

There are those such as myself, when out in the elements, we maintain a certain amount of decorum. But I am a behemoth from another age, think Victorian times, when archaeologists would dress in linen suits and ties, or long skirts and boots, and break for tea under tents attended by staff. Ahhh…. Alas, those days are gone forever, but we can still aim high.

Today, our boots fall apart, we work in the rain or mud or heat. Recently, a group of archaeologists were discussing the issue of “knee sweat”, which is when you wear shorts and use a rubber kneeling pad (like you would for gardening), and your knees start to sweat, and then of course dirt sticks to the knees like white on bread….

I have the perfect solution: wear pants. Yes, even in 100-degree heat.

And wear gloves. (No Dirty nails.)

And wear long sleeves. (No mosquito bites. No sunburn.)

And naturally, wear a hat, but most everyone does that.

But I may be a party-pooper and more of an avocational archaeologist, since I happen to like clean, lol. Don’t be fooled: there may be some clean archaeologists working in the lab, or in research, or in survey, but in their hearts, they usually love playing in the dirt.
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