Hello All:
As discussed in previous articles, the benefits and uses for wire mesh are extremely vast and seemingly endless. However, today we will be looking at one of the more niche markets that Ferrier Wire provides material to which is the field of archaeology. Wire mesh is used in archaeology mainly for sifting applications where the mesh is fitted into either steel or wooden frames creating what is commonly referred to as soil sifters (or shaker screens). The purpose of these screens is to catch any archeological phenomena (such as bones, beads, ceramics, lithic flakes, and more) while sifting through large amounts of earth that has been excavated from dig sites. The opening sizes in these screens can vary greatly depending on what the desired artifacts are.
Due to the nature of their applications, these soil sifters must be able to withstand severe stress and corrosion. The ideal mesh for this application would either need to be galvanized (a zinc coating that protects against rust and corrosion) or stainless steel – plain steel would erode and rust too easily. In addition to material, the construction of the wire mesh is also quite important; Ferrier Wire used to supply hardware cloth of various sizes for these applications. However, since hardware cloth is a welded wire mesh it was very common for the welds to break while sifting which could cause valuables to slip through. Currently, Ferrier Wire only supplies woven wire mesh for archeological sifting applications because woven wire mesh is much more resistant to failing when sifting at higher pressures and volumes.
Ferrier Wire stocks a few specs that are specifically made for archaeological sifting applications with the most popular being our galvanized 4 x 4 mesh x .035” diameter wire (GALVWEA44035). This spec features 0.215” clear openings allowing fine particles of dirt and soot to filter through while larger, potentially valuable objects are caught by the mesh. This material is also extremely scalable as it is cut from a 4’ x 100’ roll making it easy to shear as many pieces as needed for different archaeological projects. For a finer mesh, Ferrier Wire also stocks a stainless steel 8 x 8 mesh with a .017” diameter wire (SSWEA88017). This second option could be a good substitute if the desired artifacts were much smaller in size as the openings in this mesh are just 0.108” wide. Both of these specs are designed specifically with sifting in mind and will not break or buckle when being used for archeological purposes.
Please Contact us if you have any further questions about our mesh and its applications in archaeology.
