I loved Ron's comment. They did not make adobe bricks for no reason.
As a dog handler doing historical human remains detection this very
reason (our cement like soil) makes working in the summer months very
difficult.

An interesting thing happened a few years ago during an extremely wet
winter. We have been working a poorfarm and mapping out graves using
the dogs to locate them. WE only work it during the wet part of the
season because of the cement like adobe soil. This one day the water
was standing in the gopher holes. We started working and the dogs
could not find anything, even areas where we have already mapped. Our
understanding is the soil could not absorb any more water, and that
also trapped the scent from surfacing.

If you have not worked the CA cement soil you are just not experienced:)
A

>Dan,
>
>There is no physical way professional CRM teams can shovel skim the earth in
>California, unless they are digging a sand dune. People hereabouts use small
>trenching pick mattox, trowels, rock hammers and chisels (or screwdrivers with
>metal handles). Some outfits use shop vaccuums to recover the dirt, but most
>use plastic buckets. I have heard talk of conveyor belts, but that was on a
>site comprised of cobblestones. I have even seen people use those
>fancy new adobe
>hammers (small jackhammers) to loosen the indurated soils. Small air hammers
>are another option. Back in the dark ages I saw a training film of people back
>east using foot long trowels to slice through black dirt like butter and my
>entire class roared with laughter. Nah, not out here in California.
>
>Ron May
>Legacy 106, Inc.