Archaeological Survey and
Excavation
Survey and Excavation
Research Design
 Finding Archaeological Sites
 Excavation
 Types of Sites

Research Design

Design and Formulation

◦ Background Research
◦ Research design

Implementation
◦ Funding
◦ Research team members
◦ Permission

Data Acquisition
◦ Field Research
◦ Conservation
◦ Initial Artifact processing
Processing and Analysis
◦ Lab analysis
◦ Curation
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Interpretation
Final Report
Finding Sites

Accidentally

◦ mounds
◦ Iceman-1991
◦ Lascaux

Archaeological Survey
◦ surface survey
◦ subsurface excavation
 stp
 auger
 bank cuts

Remote Sensing
◦ Ground penetrating radar
◦ Electrical resistivity
◦ Magnetometry
Aerial Photography
◦ crop marks


Satellite Imagery
Geographic Information
Systems (GIS)
Accidental finding: Iceman-1991
Austrian/Italian Alps
Accidental: The Paleolithic Cave
Paintings of Lascaux, France
Great Hall of Bulls Lascaux, France
Survey

Surface
◦ Monitoring surface for artifacts, architecture

Subsurface
◦ Shovel test pits-small tests into the ground
◦ Augering-using soil augers to test under
ground
◦ Bank cuts-walking along river banks
Reading the Landscape

Archaeological Survey Design
◦ Purpose of surveying is to map the
physical remains of human activity
◦ Surveys must be designed with project
goals in mind

Geological Factors
◦ Geological factors that affect
preservation and visibility of sites must be
considered
Reading the Landscape

Archaeological Survey Recovery
Methods
◦ Variety of techniques used including:
 Walkover or shovel testing
 Remote sensing
 Magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar

Geographical Information Systems
◦ GIS are software applications that enable
archaeologists to bring together different
types of spatial data and examine them
together
Global Positioning
System
(GPS) receivers help
archaeologists
determine
the precise locations of
archaeological sites
Geographical
Information
Systems
Geographical information
system (GIS) works by creating
a series of georeferenced
overlays.
Eastern Korinthia Archaeological
Survey

Korinthia was one of the most important sources of
trade and transport in the ancient Greek world
◦ a source of raw materials and manufactured goods
◦ a rich agricultural region.

The Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey Project
◦ multidisciplinary regional study in this historically rich region.
◦ expands upon previous scholarly research and add to the theory
and practice of archaeological survey in an environmentally
sensitive area.
http://eleftheria.stcloudstate.edu/eks/
Study Area
Research Questions

The particular research question is the
relationship between eastern Korinthia, its main
urban center, and the broader Mediterranean
world.
◦ For example, was the countryside cultivated mainly to serve the
needs of an urban population or to produce a surplus for
export?
◦ If the latter, who was responsible: public officials, wealthy
landowners, or individuals with small holdings?
◦ Any of these possibilities may be in use at a given period. If the
function of the agricultural sector changed over time, how can
we track the process?
◦ Equally relevant is the exploitation of natural resources such as
fine limestone, iron ore, and high-grade clay.
Ground Penetrating Radar


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Ground penetrating radar is a nondestructive geophysical method that
produces a continuous cross-sectional profile or record of subsurface
features, without drilling, probing, or digging.
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles are used for evaluating the
location and depth of buried objects and to investigate the presence and
continuity of natural subsurface conditions and features.
Ground penetrating radar operates by transmitting pulses of ultra high
frequency radio waves (microwave electromagnetic energy) down into
the ground through a transducer or antenna.
The transmitted energy is reflected from various buried objects or
distinct contacts between different earth materials. The antenna then
receives the reflected waves and stores them in the digital control unit.
http://www.geomodel.com/gprtext.htm
Ground Penetrating Radar
Electrical Resistivity

The resistance meter passes a small electrical current
through the earth via a series of metal probes and
measures the resistance of the earth to that current.
◦ Although the earths resistance may vary according to a wide variety
of factors, archaeological remains may be detected because of their
effect on local resistance to a current.

Stone structures are relatively poor conductors.
◦ Consequently, the presence of a wall may increase resistance and the
feature will be represented as a positive anomaly.
◦ Alternatively, a ditch or pit will usually allow a current to pass with
relative ease (this is the result of the relatively high water content of
such features).
◦ These features will be shown as low resistance anomalies.
◦ The depth to which the resistance meter can identify archaeological
features when using a two probe array is dependant on the mobile
probe separation.
Electrical Resistivity
http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bufau/research/bury_walls/technologies.htm
Magnetometry

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

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The basis of survey using this instrument is very different to
resistance survey. The magnetometer detects small changes in the
earths magnetic field.
Although the earth has a permanent magnetic field which is subject
to almost continuous global variations in direction and intensity,
there are many localized factors which may also affect the field.
Many of these factors are natural in origin (the presence of volcanic
rocks, for instance). However, part of this variation may have an
archaeological origin and magnetometers may be used to detect
this.
In particular burning may cause changes in iron compounds and
transform them from non or weakly magnetic to magnetic forms.
Hearths and kilns, burnt clay and soil, bricks and tiles are good
examples of archaeological objects or material which may cause
such changes. Features such as pits and ditches may be filled with
archaeological material and may be located because the contents of
the features cause localized magnetic anomalies.
Magnetometry
Aerial Photography
Samarra' is a town on the east bank of the middle Tigris in Iraq, 125
km north of Baghdad, Between A.D. 836 and 892 it was the capital
of the Abbasid Caliphs. Samarra’ expanded to an occupied area of 57
km², one of the largest cities of ancient times.
Excavation

Vertical Excavation
◦ Digging limited areas
for info on stratigraphy
and dating
◦ “Test Trenching”

Underwater
 Tools

◦ Backhoes, Bulldozers
◦ Picks, shovels, trowels
◦ Dental picks, brushes
Area Excavation
◦ Horizontal excavation
◦ “Block Areas”
Recording
 Stratigraphy

Controlling
Horizontal and
Vertical Space
A datum point provides a point of
reference for measuring depth while
a grid provides a means of
controlling horizontal space.
Vertical Excavation
Area Excavation
Underwater Archaeology
Types of Sites

Habitation Sites

◦ Open campsites
◦ Villages


Caves & Rockshelters

 Earthworks

◦ Mounds
◦ Forts


Shell Middens
Ceremonial Sites
Architectural Sites
Burials and Cemeteries
Historic Sites
First Warburton Excavation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hdPj9KwHJ0