Excavation Anth 130 September 11 2014 Excavation The

Excavation! Anth 130 September 11, 2014

Excavation • The exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains • Yields the most reliable evidence of the two main types of information that archaeologists are looking at: human activity at a certain time and changes in that activity

• Contemporary activities take place horizontally and changes occur vertically through time (sometimes)

Archaeologists must understand what natural and cultural processes are in action when excavating a site…why?

Stratigraph • Layers of strata are laid down according to a process that still continues • Archaeologists use strata-cultural and natural layers made up over time-which are created over a much shorter time than the geological ones • Follow the law of superposition: where one layer overlies another, the lower was deposited first *refers only to the sequence of deposits not the age of the deposits

Sometimes Strata become intreverted or mixed up… • Archaeologists use pieces of bone, flakes or pottery to test if layers are related…if the pieces from two layers fit together then they are not actually separate cultural layers

Excavation Methods • Its much better to go out and dig then just read about it…

But sense we can’t do that lets just talk about it!

All methods must adapt to the research question at hand…there are lots of different excavation methods

Two Techniques • Emphasizes vertical dimensions, cutting into deep deposits to reveal stratification • Horizontal dimensions by opening up large areas of a particular layer

First step… • Lay out your grid! • A point is picked within the site (the datum) and all other points are measured from this point

So maybe don’t lay out a grid… • Open-area Excavation • Very effective with single period deposit sites • Only cut vertical sections where they are needed to figure out difficult stratigraphic relationships

Recording • Every artifacts 3 D location within the site needs to be recorded…. when that is possible (which is pretty much never)

When artifacts are found in situ and it is possible to record their position archaeologists do…. • Large finds will be mapped using GIS methods or by hand when found on a site • Their trench, strata, level, association and provenience must be recorded • They will also be photographed throughout the excavation processes • Each object will be given a number and entered into a field journal or field computer

Features • Features usually must be left where they are…. • It is important to fully record them in field journals for later analysis as they maybe destroyed as the excavation continues vertically • Photographs and scaled drawings help to insure accurate accounts for later analysis

What about all that dirt? • Screening (or sieving) is used to find small artifacts that may go unnoticed • Beads, bones, plant remains etc. • Wet vs. Dry screening will depend on what you are looking for

So you have all these artifacts…now what? • Getting objects out of the ground is only part of the excavation process…

Cleaning artifacts • Nothing is more fun then scrubbing dirt of pottery! • Depending on the types of artifacts you are excavating different methods will need to be in place for cleaning, storing and conserving artifacts within the field

Next comes sorting • First objects are sorted into broad categoriespottery, metal, stone tools etc • These categories are then subdivided based on three types of characteristics known as attributes – Surface Attributes – Shape Attributes – Technological Attributes

Typology • Artifacts with similar attributes are grouped together into artifact types…. creating a typology • Helps archaeologists to create order

Assemblages • Groups of artifact types (or typologies) that are from the same time and place

Archaeological Cultures • A group of assemblages relating to one group of people • Does an archaeological culture=an actual culture from the past?

Underwater Archaeology • Uses a lot of the same techniques! • Just under water • Still use grid systems, record everything, clean/conserve artifacts, classify and interpret the remains • It is VERY expensive

These are all artificial constructs to help archaeologists put order to the disorderly remains of the past They should not determine the way we think about the past!

Depending on your research question classification might be different….

Publication The last step!