Sorry if I am joining this thread a bit late, but we've been experiencing
technical difficulties.
 
Those of  us here at the Conservation Research Lab at Texas A&M's Nautical
Archaeology Program were very interested by the discussion on the Munsell
charts and thought we'd add our two cents.
 
In the past, we have found that the Miss Clairol guide to Hair Dye colors
has been extremely useful in identifying the colors of chemically conserved
waterlogged wood. Swatches are available at any local drug store or Sally's
Beauty Supply Co. free of charge.
 
Also of great use is the DMC Embroidery Floss sample chart. the largest one
is $35 (appx.) and has hundreds of permutations that encompass every color
in the known spectrum and beyond. Check your local fabric store or craft
center for this 'rainbow in a box.'
 
With so many exciting, accessable, and affordable alternatives to the
Munsell, it is amazing that the price of the chart remains so high. I
suppose the whole point is to have some form of standard reference that
someone who is reading your analysis can see a tangible analogy of color,
rather than just rely on a arbitrary description.  Perhaps if a few credible
reports are written with soil descriptions of 'Strawberry Blonde' and
'Autumn Leaves' rather than '10YR4-3' and so on the people at Munsell might
consider a more affordable line of charts. I am sure with homebrewing being
all the rage these days, there must be a guide to beer colors out there...
perhaps this would be the most appropriate standard to adopt for archaeology
in general.
 
Cheers,
 
David Johnson.
 
 
 
 
David A. Johnson
Graduate Research Assistant
 
Nautical Archaeology Program
Department of Anthropology
Texas A&M University
College Station TX 77843 USA
email: [log in to unmask]
Fax (INA): 409-847-9260
Phone:  (Ship Lab): 409-862-3080
        (CRL): 409-845-6354