Once the dig is done, archaeologists have a professional responsibility to analyze all the artifacts and information obtained, to report on their research, and to curate the collections. For these reasons, archaeologists generally excavate only when there is a threat of destruction or when they may reveal vital information about past cultures.
Is excavation good for archaeology?
Feb 16, 2022 · February 16, 2022 by asta. Excavations can be classified, from the point of view of their purpose, as planned, rescue, or accidental. Most important excavations are the result of a prepared plan—that is to say, their purpose is to locate buried evidence about an archaeological site. Archaeological excavation is the procedure by which archaeologists define, retrieve, and …
Why do Archaeologists excavate move and analyse human remains?
Why do archaeologists carry out an excavation? Excavations can be classified, from the point of view of their purpose, as planned, rescue, or accidental. Most important excavations are the result of a prepared plan—that is to say, their purpose is to locate buried evidence about an archaeological site.
How has archaeological excavation changed over the years?
Excavation is the surgical aspect of archaeology: it is surgery of the buried landscape and is carried out with all the skilled craftsmanship that has been built up in the last hundred years since Schliemann and Flinders Petrie. Excavations can be classified, from the point of view of their purpose, as planned, rescue, or accidental.
What can archaeologists learn from the remains of ancient buildings?
Oct 09, 2014 · Why do archaeologists carry out an excavation? Wiki User. ∙ 2014-10-09 20:36:41. Add an answer. Want this question answered? Be notified when an answer is posted. 📣 …
What is the purpose of excavation?
What is archaeological excavation?
What did archaeologists find during excavation?
Why do archaeologists have to dig to find sites and artifacts?
What's Excavating mean?
What do you find during excavation?
What is the role of archaeology?
There is a realisation today that part of archaeology’s role is to ensure that good records and documentation is kept . This leads to robust project control processes both during the overall project and particularly during excavation. This realisation is based upon the fact that we may never be able to truly explain the past but by leaving good records of our work they are available for subsequent reinterpretation. Again as most archaeology is public funded and requires reporting and presentations the resources available for extensive excavation are again reduced. Chapman’s work at Gatas is evidence of this where sizeable progress reports are required to renew permits for the following year (6).
What is the purpose of excavation?
Originally excavation, whether unplanned, in the form of grave robbing or curiosity, or planned, in the form of a structured approach was the main way in which evidence, knowledge and understanding could be acquired. Where excavation is most often employed today is in rescue archaeology. Here, archaeologists are given a very limited amount of time to examine and rescue artefacts prior to some other construction programme, coastal erosion or perhaps a road building programme. This is due largely to the legal or planning framework and the fact that the developer more often has to pay for the work.
What is research design in archaeology?
Research design has four components, namely; formulation, the collection and recording, processing and analysis and publication. For example, more detailed work in the formulation part can focus lines of enquiry into a specific area and thereby again reduce the amount of excavation required. As we have already mentioned more meticulous collection and recording can reduce the requirement to excavate and indeed revisiting and reinterpreting original notes can prove highly instructive. Again this reduces the requirement for extensive excavation.
How has archaeology changed?
The emergence of processual archaeology under Binford and others again moved archaeology towards broader concepts of explanation, process, deduction, hypothesis testing, question setting and response. Answering questions about the organisation of societies, the environment, and the trading contacts employed, their thought processes and their diet have a much greater importance today. And answering these how and why questions implies a much broader scope of work. Excavation alone cannot answer all these questions. So for both theoretical reasons and practical reasons described above the acquisition of material culture through excavation is no longer the main driving force. This again reduces the reliance upon excavation as a primary analytical tool.
Why do archaeologists have limited time?
Here, archaeologists are given a very limited amount of time to examine and rescue artefacts prior to some other construction programme, coastal erosion or perhaps a road building programme. This is due largely to the legal or planning framework and the fact that the developer more often has to pay for the work.
Why is geophysics important?
Geophysics helps with detailing and focusing of subsequent work. But clearly it usually requires that a hypothesis is being tested as each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages. The appropriate use of the right geophysics tool can substantially aid an excavation strategy.
How can we best explore below the surface?
So how can we best explore below the surface. Whilst the purpose here is to view what is below the surface the work takes place on the surface so it has been included as a surface survey technique. There are many ways to view the sub surface. None evasive approaches can use, echo sounding, electromagnetic magnetic, metal detectors, electrical resistivity, radioactivity, thermography, geochemical analysis and even dowsing.
What is excavation in archaeology?
Excavation is the surgical aspect of archaeology: it is surgery of the buried landscape and is carried out with all the skilled craftsmanship that has been built up in the last hundred years since Schliemann and Flinders Petrie. Excavations can be classified, from the point of view of their purpose, as planned, rescue, or accidental.
What is the role of chance in the discovery of archaeological sites?
The role of chance in the discovery of archaeological sites and portable finds is considerable. Farmers have often unearthed archaeological finds while plowing their fields. The famous painted and engraved Upper Paleolithic cave of Lascaux in southern France was discovered by chance in 1940 when four French schoolboys decided to investigate a hole left by an uprooted tree. They widened a smaller shaft at the base of the hole and jumped through to find themselves in the middle of this remarkable pagan sanctuary. Similarly, the first cache of the Dead Sea Scrolls was discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin looking for a stray animal. These accidental finds often lead to important excavations. At Barnénès, in north Brittany, a contractor building a road got his stone from a neighbouring prehistoric cairn (burial mound) and, in so doing, discovered and partially destroyed a number of prehistoric burial chambers. The French archaeologist P.-R. Giot was able to halt these depredations and carry out scientific excavations that revealed Barnénès to be one of the most remarkable and interesting prehistoric burial mounds in western Europe.
What are the most obvious archaeological sites?
Among the most obvious archaeological sites that have yielded spectacular results by excavation are the huge man-made mounds ( tells) in the Near East, called in Arabic tilāl, and in Turkish tepes or hüyük s. They result from the accumulation of remains caused by centuries of human habitation on one spot.
What are the different types of archaeological sites?
Some sites, such as temples, forts, roads, villages, ancient cities, palaces, and industrial remains , are easily visible on the surface of the ground. Among the most obvious archaeological sites that have yielded spectacular results by excavation are the huge man-made mounds ( tells) in the Near East, called in Arabic tilāl, and in Turkish tepes or hüyük s. They result from the accumulation of remains caused by centuries of human habitation on one spot. The sites of the ancient cities of Troy and Ur are examples. Another type consists of closed sites such as pyramids, chambered tombs, barrows (burial mounds), sealed caves, and rock shelters. In other cases there are no surface traces, and the outline of suspected structures is revealed only by aerial or geophysical reconnaissance as described above. Finally, there are sites in cliffs and gravel beds, where many Paleolithic finds have been made.
What is the history of archaeology?
Archaeology is fundamentally a historical science, one that encompasses the general objectives of reconstructing, interpreting, and understanding... All forms of archaeological excavation require great skill and careful preparation.
What are some examples of buried landscapes?
It is often the recovery of features that are almost indistinguishable from nonarchaeological aspects of the buried landscape: one example of this is the recovery of mud-brick walls in Mesopotamia; another is the tracing of collapsed walls of dry stone slabs in a cairn in stony country in the southwest Midlands of England.
Where is the Undo Cave?
Experience the archaeological excavations of the Undo Cave, a paleolithic site in Georgia. Archaeological excavations at Undo Cave, a Paleolithic site in Georgia. The role of chance in the discovery of archaeological sites and portable finds is considerable.
Why do archaeologists excavate human remains?
For these scientific excavations, human remains could be excavated because they provide information that no other source can.
What is rescue excavation in Scotland?
As a large portion of archaeological digs in Scotland are ‘rescue excavations’ (meaning excavations that are undertaken so that something can be built on that location), this can make the situation more complicated. If a house foundation or a road is now built where the human remains used to be, where should they go? What is most respectful?
What is considered human remains?
When archaeologists use the term ‘human remains,’ they often mean human skeletons from the past. However, anything that was once human can be considered human remains. This means that hair, skin and other tissues (such as organs) are also human remains. Archaeologists treat all types of human remains with respect and dignity.
Why are bones moved?
Often this means lifting the bones in the soil that they were found, or carefully moving individual bones out of the soil into special bags for preservation.
How to analyze human remains?
Human remains can also be analysed using DNA sampling, radiocarbon dating and isotope sampling. DNA analysis uses the genetic material of the remains and can accurately determine their sex, help identify their family relationships, and give information about their appearance in life.
Why are human remains rare in Scotland?
In Scotland, depending on the time period, finding human remains can be quite rare. This is because the soil is often acidic and breaks down human remains, especially bone.
Where are the remains of a person stored?
They are then stored at respectful and secure locations, such as museums and universities. Sometimes remains can be stored at churches or kirks if the remains are connected to these locations and can be properly secured.
What is an archaeological section drawing?
An archaeological section drawing is a vertical cross-section through the feature under excavation to reveal the contents of the fill and the shape of the fill. Accordingly, section drawings are a very important recording technique, as they allow future researchers to see the exact forms of the excavated features. They are usually drawn at a scale of 1:10 or 1:20. In the above example, all the useful information about how to locate the feature has been listed in the title. The points of the compass are very useful for identifying which section of the feature has been drawn. The cut number has been put in [square brackets] and the two fill numbers have been put in (round brackets). The cut [101] has been given the lowest number, since the the archaeological event of the cut being dug came before the first fill (102) and the second fill (103).
What should be included in an excavation report?
Reports should contain a Summary, Introduction, Aim, Methodology, Results (including finds summary), Discussion and Conclusions, and Recommendations for further work, as well as a References, a location map, and appendices such as finds reports, full descriptions of every context, section drawings and plans. If you would like to look at copies of professional excavation reports, Jigsaw has some examples available. We also have a pro forma for an archaeological evaluation which groups can use. Inform the County Archaeology Team when the report is finished (by email to [email protected]) and upload a copy to OASIS. They will update the HER record and link it to the OASIS unique identifying number for the project.
How to protect fragile finds?
Fragile findsshould be protected through use of plastazote padding in a finds bag, or acid-free tissue in a crystal box. Silica gel may be required to dry out metalwork NOT found in waterlogged contexts. Amber and shale should not be allowed to dry out. See the book 'First Aid for Finds' for more information. Complete vessels should be lifted whole, with their contents.
What should be the final activity you conduct on the site you are researching?
Excavation should be the final activity you conduct on the site you are researching. Before you consider excavating, you should have completed most of the following research activities:
How to excavate a pit?
divide it in two and take out one half of the fill). Ditches are typically excavated by taking a 1m section out of it. This provides useful information such as how steep the sides of the feature are, what shape the bottom of the feature is, and what the fill contains. Once a feature has been half-sectioned or a 1m section has been taken out of it, the feature should be photographed, and a plan and section drawn.
Do you need a machinist to excavate?
Machiningwill only be required when undertaking an open area excavation project. Make sure you choose an appropriately sized machine, tracked or wheeled, with a ditching bucket. You will also require an experienced driver with the correct tickets (licences) who knows to separate topsoil and subsoil, and how to strip accurately down to 'natural' (first layer of natural geology under subsoil). If you expect to find human remains, you will need to obtain a Burials Licence. Generally it is advisable for community archaeology groups to avoid excavating human remains where possible, due to complications of obtaining a licence, and reburial, where applicable.
Overview
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years.
Excavation involves the recovery of several types of data from a site. This data includes artifacts (portable objects made or modified by humans), features(non-portable modifications to the site i…
History
The first instance of archaeological excavation took place in the sixth century BC, when Nabonidus, the king of Babylon excavated a temple floor that was thousands of years old. During early Roman periods, Julius Caesar's men looted bronze artifacts, and by the medieval period, Europeans began digging up pots that partially had emerged from erosion, and weapons that had turned up on farmlands. Antiquarians excavated burial mounds in North America and North-Wes…
Motivation
There are two basic types of modern archaeological excavation:
1. Research excavation – when time and resources are available to excavate the site fully and at a leisurely pace. These are now almost exclusively the preserve of academics or private societies who can muster enough volunteer labour and funds. The size of the excavation can also be decided by the director as it goes on.
Concepts
Archaeological material tends to accumulate in events. A gardener swept a pile of soil into a corner, laid a gravel path or planted a bush in a hole. A builder built a wall and back-filled the trench. Years later, someone built a pigsty onto it and drained the pigsty into the nettle patch. Later still, the original wall blew over and so on. Each event, which may have taken a short or long time to accomplish, le…
Methods
Excavation initially involves the removal of any topsoil. A strategy for sampling the contexts and features is formulated which may involve total excavation of each feature or only portions.
In stratigraphic excavation, the goal is to remove some or, preferably, all archaeological deposits and features in the reverse order they were created an…
Tools and techniques
This describes the use in excavations of various types and sizes of machines from small backhoesto heavy duty earth-moving machinery. Machines are often used in what is called salvage or rescue archaeology in developer-led excavation when there are financial or time pressures. Using a mechanical excavator is the quickest method to remove soil and debris and to prepare the …
Recording
Archaeological excavation is an unrepeatable process, since the same area of the ground cannot be excavated twice. Thus, archaeology is often known as a destructive science, where you must destroy the original evidence in order to make observations. To mitigate this, highly accurate and precise digital methods can be used to record the excavation process and its results.
Single context recording was developed in the 1970s by the museum of London(as well as earlie…
Finds processing
Finds and artifacts that survive in the archaeological record are retrieved in the main by hand and observation as the context they survive in is excavated. Several other techniques are available depending on suitability and time constraints. Sieving and flotation is used to maximize the recovery of small items such as small shards of pottery or flint flakes.
What’s Wrong with Excavating?
Changes in Approaches Within Archaeology
The Role of Surface Survey Techniques
Aerial Photography
The Role of Field Walking
The Role of Sub-Surface Exploration
The Role of Geographical Information Systems and Documentation
How Is Excavation Used in Practice?
So Why Do We Still Excavate?
- Yet excavation has its advantages. “Digging” as Greene suggests ” still delivers an unmatched quality of evidence” (8). It is only through excavation that hypotheses can be tested. Moreover in response to concerns we have seen changes in the way excavation is carried out. We have seen a change in excavation techniques that reflect changes in though...