Do not lift an object before examining it carefully-make sure there is no paint or applied decoration that may be easily lost when it is lifted. Do elements protrude into the ground?
• Consider the soil-dry, sandy or gravelly soil will provide little in the way of support for the artifact once disturbed and will need support itself. • Consider the temperature-in cold weather a number of materials will not perform to their best capacity. For example, plaster of Paris will harden but will not dry sufficiently to reach maximum strength; plastic emulsions and dispersions may not coalesce into a usable film. Heat may also make plastics soften and deform. • Consider the time available for the lift-aim to complete a lift in one day if at all possible. • Consider the site-certain lifting techniques are not suitable for highly complicated excavations where the areas on either side of the object and directly beneath it are important. It may be necessary to use more shallow lifting techniques. • Because of the time-consuming nature of a lift, lifting is often reserved for very special artifacts. Often media attention surrounds this. Make sure you control the event and particu
