ANTH 235, EXCAVATION I
PURPOSES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION:
Excavation provides the most reliable evidence for the two
main kinds of information archaeologists are interested in:
1. human activities at a particular period in the past
(synchronic perspective)
2. changes in those activities from period to period
(diachronic perspective)
because, very broadly speaking:
1. contemporaneous activities take place horizontally
in space (the synchronic perspective)
2. changes in those activities occur vertically through
time (the diachronic perspective)
STRATIGRAPHY:
One of the first steps in comprehending the great antiquity
of humankind was the recognition by geologists of the
process of stratification – that the Earth’s layers or strata
(singular = stratum) are laid down, one on top of the other,
according to processes that still continue today.
(Charles Lyell’s concept of Uniformitarianism,
first published in his Principles of Geology, 1833.
Subtitle: “Being an Attempt to Explain the Former
Changes of the Earth’s Surface by Reference to
Causes Now in Operation”).
The Law of Superposition: “where one geological or
archaeological layer overlies another, the lower layer was
deposited first.” There are exceptions such as reversed
stratigraphy!
The archaeological record is the ultimate nonrenewable resource!
All excavation is an inherently and unavoidably
destructive process!
One can divide excavation techniques into two types:
1. Those that emphasize the vertical dimension by cutting
into deep deposits to reveal stratification (below)
2. Those that emphasize the horizontal dimension by
opening up large areas of a particular layer to reveal the
spatial relationships between artifacts and features in that
layer (sometimes called a clearing excavation)
BRIEF RUN-THROUGH OF GENERALLY
APPLICABLE PRINCIPLES OF EXCAVATION:
 Look first at the area to be dug. Figure out the best
approach and tools needed before beginning.
 Don’t hurry! Be calm and purposeful.
 Feel the ground delicately. Test hardness of the soil with
trowel – decide how excavation is to proceed.
 Loosen small amount of soil with trowel or other
appropriate tool.
 Break up lumps and load into bucket (for transport to
screens for further processing).
 Take earth out evenly throughout the excavation unit
(2x2-meter square, etc.). Move away from the area dug;
do not walk on newly excavated surfaces.
 Pay particular attention to changes in soil texture, color,
and moisture.
 Maintain a level surface until a feature or floor level is
encountered.
 Use a plumb bob to maintain vertical walls in the
excavation unit.
 Never undercut excavation walls, even if a valuable
object is projecting from it – undercutting makes
interpretation of stratigraphy very difficult.
 All dirt removed should be screened and, if indicated,
wet-sieved or floated.
 Establish the provenience of every object or feature in
the stratum and record that position by a combination of
photography and drafting.
 Bag or box artifacts from each stratum. Similar artifact
classes (pottery, stone, bone, etc.) are usually bagged
separately.
 When a new layer is reached, or anything unusual is
encountered, STOP!
 Do not dig down into a new layer until all dirt and
objects from the one above have been recorded,
removed, and bagged. Avoid mixing artifacts from
various levels!
 The depth of the top and bottom of each new level is
measured from a standard position (called the datum
point) and recorded in a field notebook. The field
notebook should also contain a running commentary on
the progress of the excavation – can be very stream-ofconsciousness, like a diary.
 Describe the soil of each new level carefully – color,
texture, moisture, inclusions. Is it sterile (i.e., does not
contain any artifacts)?
When in doubt about how to proceed, STOP and discuss.
Archaeological excavation is a group process.
An example of why archaeological excavation must be a
thoughtful, carefully considered process:
The evolution of Troy at Hissarlik in western Turkey with the Homeric
city indicated in red tint. (Illustration by Christoph Haussner)
WHAT IS WORTH SAVING?
Rule of thumb: “Unearth, record, remove, and
preserve every visible artifact and feature.”
The larger answer to this question has to do with
sampling strategies.
SPECIAL EXCAVATION CIRCUMSTANCES:
BURIALS – Two important sources of data from burials:
grave goods and the corpse itself.
simple burial (a.k.a. primary burial): Placement of the
body (both flesh and bones) in the ground or in some sort
of coffin. May be in one of the following positions:
 extended
 flexed (leg bones bent less than 90)
 crouched (knees are bent up to the chin and hands rest
under the chin – a.k.a. “the fetal position”)
 supine (body on its back)
 prone (body face down or, occasionally, resting on its
side)
 multiple (more than one individual interred in a
common grave)
cremation: ritual disposal of the corpse by burning.
Earliest evidence only ca. 5000 BCE.
secondary burial: reburial of bones after flesh
decomposes. Sometimes reburied as collective interments
or ossuaries.
monumental tombs: Egyptian pyramids, Temple of the
Inscriptions at Palenque, etc. Actually, a very rare form of
interment.
barrows or tumuli (singular tumulus): above-ground
mounds of earth, stone, or a combination of the two
intended to protect a grave chamber beneath.
rock shelter and cave tombs: both formed naturally and
often used as burial places by earlier cultures.
UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY – also a special
circumstance involving particular excavation concerns.
The focus is generally on shipwrecks – obviously, a
synchronic event – so stratigraphy, per se, is not an issue.
An interesting article that explores the current practical
limits of underwater prehistoric archaeology using sonar
and submersible robots:
O’Shea, J. M. and G. R. Meadows. (2009). Evidence
for early hunters beneath the Great Lakes.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106
(June 23): 10120-10123.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS:
The excavation process can be boiled down to three main
phases:
1. identification of area(s) to be excavated
2. recovery and recording of the evidence
3. processing and classification of recovered materials
Only when this process has been completed can the
analytical aspects of archaeological inquiry begin in
earnest...
REMEMBER:
“No amount of post facto computerized number crunching
can compensate for poorly recorded field data. As the
saying goes: ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’ Or, as more
delicately stated by Philip Barker in 1977, ‘No statistical
analysis…can be better than the quality of its data, the true
reflection of the nature and distribution of the samples used
in the analysis. Statistical analysis of material derived
from partial and inadequately recorded excavations will
inevitably be misleading, though unprovably so.’”
(Stuart Fiedel in Discovering Archaeology,
January/February 2000, page 46)
Principal sources of archaeological excavating equipment:
Archtools (http://www.archtools.co.uk/)
Ben Meadows Company (http://www.benmeadows.com/)
Forestry Suppliers (http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/)
Miners (http://www.minerox.com/)
Stoney Knoll Archaeological Supplies
(http://www.stoneyknoll.com/)
and, of course,
(http://www.strati-concept.com/)