One of the most important tools of the modern archaeologist is the trusty pointed trowel (“don’t leave home without it!”), which is used for various dig-related activities, such as digging, scraping, leveling, straightening balks, collecting loose earth, picking up delicate finds, etc.. At times, it can even be used for cutting a watermelon, doodling in the sand, and other less-proffessionally-oriented activities. In recent decades, the most popular trowel among archaeologists in many countries is the “Marshalltown” trowel, a US made brand.

 A Marshalltown trowel and “holster”

The Marshalltown trowel comes in various sizes (personally, I prefer the 4.5″ one, although other colleagues prefer the 5.5″ ones), and is extremely durable (almost never breaks), can be continuously sharpened, and, most importantly, has a sufficient amount of “spring” in the blade, which enable an experienced excavator to use it with astonishing accuracy. Basically, most of the digging that is done during the excavation (save for the use of large tools for large amount of earth) can be done with the Marshalltown trowel.

In the archaeological world, the Marshalltown trowel has become sort of an icon, as the extremely humorous piece by Kent Flannery, “The Golden Marshalltown” clearly demonstrates (American Anthropologist 84 (1982): 265-278 – required reading for any one interested in archaeology!).

For the sake of any Brits reading this piece, it should be stated that archaeologists in the UK swear by the WHS trowel, and I have witnessed a British and an American archaeologist arguing about the pros and cons of these two types, for close to an hour …

In the Near East, the Marshalltown trowel has only become popular in the last two decades, and in most cases, a good indication of the quality of an excavation is the amount of such trowels that used in the day-to-day excavations (sort of like the old joke that the best way to measure the level of culture in a society, is the amount of soap that is consumed …).

Needless to say (;-), the Marshalltown trowel is a very common tool, and is extensively used, in the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavations. In fact, we require all volunteers to bring their own to the excavations (they can be purchased online at the link above), and if they are willing, to leave them with the dig at the end of the season. When volunteers try to bring other brands, in most cases these “inferior” trowels cannot match up to the “real McCoy” …

 Rona and a student digging with their trusty Marshalltowns …

So, if any of you want to become a serious archaeologist, and/or want to be considered one, you must have a Marshalltown trowel on your belt. In fact, it is even more important than a whip or a revolver! (move over Indy!).

  That’s me! Notice the Marshalltown on my belt (instead of a whip), along with about a hundred other necessary and unnecessary things …

Aren