Using Agricultural Grain Cleaners to Mechanically Screen Earth

Rapid escalation of fieldwork costs during the past years has required archaeologists to pursue innovative methods for maximizing the amount of fieldwork for the funds available. One of the more labor intensive aspects of fieldwork is the recovery of cultural materials through the use of manual shaker screens. During the past several years, several archaeologists in the midwestern United States have utilized slightly modified, commercially-manufactured agricultural machines for this task. The result is a very cost-efficient method of artifact recovery which drastically reduces the amount of time spent at this task, allowing excavators to spend much more of their field time in excavation and data recording. It has also proved to be very nondestructive to artifacts passing through the machine. Instructions for modifying and using the machine are presented.