This discussion has migrated over to the ARCH-L (Archaeology) list. Someone
made the suggestion that labels could be printed up on a laserjet printer
using very small fonts, and stuck on the artifacts. Another person pointed out
the problems of hauling such delicate equipment into the field. Yet another
voice has mentioned the degradability of laserjet ink.
   When I mentioned this thread to a friend at the Center for Environmental
Archaeology at Texas A&M, she said that they had been considering the
possibility of using microdots for labeling. Apart from the fact that one
would need a microscope for reading such a label, how does this idea strike
people?
   BTW, not to belabor the point, but when I use Ziploc bags, I make sure the
artifacts in question are thoroughly dried out, so that no fungus or mold can
attach itself. If the bone is not dried out, condensation will form inside the
seal and destroy the artifact. I remember an article that I read during my
graduate days at the University of Arizona, about an Eastern Woodlands dig in
which this drying out process was not done, the bones developed mold and
fungus, and years later, when the artifacts were reexamined, the bones
literally fell apart.
 
Anita Cohen-Williams; Reference Services; Hayden Library
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ  85287-1006
PHONE: (602) 965-4579              FAX: (602) 965-9169
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