We live in changing times, even in the staid world of archaeology. I vividly remember months of recording artifacts from Iron Age sites in Africa—measuring plotting, drawing plans. Hearths, changing pottery designs, even cow bones: all were grist for the mill, a huge task when over 20,000 objects were involved. Yes, we did it all by hand, day after day, with mind-numbing monotony that was worth it in the end. Now a friend has sent me a press release about archaeologist Richard Walter of the University of Otago in New Zealand, who has developed “Excavation Manager,” which certainly solves part of the monotony problem and is far more accurate. Handheld devices enter the data into site records. Every artifact is recorded immediately and the details transmitted wirelessly to a central server, located on-site. Each item receives a barcode, which allows the excavator to track the object from discovery right through to the moment when it enters permanent storage—and beyond. Machines seem to be taking over so much that we used to do, including the laborious task of marking artifacts with black ink. “Never let the sun set on an unmarked artifact” the late Miles Burkitt used to admonish us at Cambridge many years ago. Now, apparently, bar code machines and computers have taken over the task. I’m sure there are equivalent approaches being tested elsewhere, but apparently the University of Otago thinks this has commercial possibilities. They awarded Richard a $50,000 prize grant from what is called the university’s “commercialization arm.” If nothing else curators will bless the barcodes, which should make finding artifacts from the excavations of yesteryear much easier. When was the last time you spent hours looking for that elusive artifact that you dimly remember from a dig five summers ago?