The techniques developed for the excavation and conservation of the Ozette materials were shared with the broader archaeological community and have influenced practice at subsequent waterlogged sites.

The Ozette project was, in this sense, a methodological as well as a substantive contribution to the field.

The Pompeii Comparison: Useful and Misleading

The comparison between Ozette and Pompeii has been widely made and is not without justification.

Both sites preserve a specific moment in the life of a community, buried abruptly by a natural disaster, with a level of spatial and material completeness that other sites cannot approach.

The comparison is useful as a way of conveying the character of the preservation.