Waterlogged organic sites are notoriously difficult.

The excavation at Ozette used water pumps to manage the constant seepage in the waterlogged deposits, and developed techniques for carefully lifting fragile objects while keeping them continuously wet.

Workers used wooden probes and tools alongside conventional trowels to minimize damage to fragile wooden objects.

The pace of excavation was necessarily slow.

Over the 11 years that the major fieldwork continued, the excavation proceeded through multiple longhouses and their surrounding deposits.

Each new area opened revealed new materials and new interpretive questions.