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Excavation




 

Archaeological excavation existed even when the field was still the domain of amateurs, and it remains the source of the majority of data recovered in most field projects. It can reveal several types of information usually not accessible to survey, such as stratigraphy, three-dimensional structure, and verifiably primary context.

Modern excavation techniques require that the precise locations of objects and features, known as their provenance or provenience, be recorded. This always involves determining their horizontal locations and sometimes vertical position as well. Similarly, their association, or relationship with nearby objects and features, needs to be recorded for later analysis. This allows the archaeologist to deduce what artifacts and features were likely used together and which may be from different phases of activity. For example, excavation of a site reveals its stratigraphy; if a site was occupied by a succession of distinct cultures, artifacts from more recent cultures will lie above those from more ancient cultures.

Excavation is the most expensive phase of archaeological research. Also, as a destructive process, it carries ethical concerns. As a result, very few sites are excavated in their entirety. Sampling is even more important in excavation than in survey. It is common for large mechanical equipment, such as backhoes , to be used in excavation, especially to remove the topsoil (overburden), though this method is increasingly used with great caution. Following this rather dramatic step, the exposed area is usually hand-cleaned with trowels or hoes to ensure that all features are apparent.

The next task is to form a site plan and then use it to help decide the method of excavation. Features dug into the natural subsoil are normally excavated in portions in order to produce a visible archaeological section for recording. A feature, for example a pit or a ditch, consists of two parts: The cut and the fill. The cut describes the edge of the feature, where the feature meets the natural soil. It is the features boundary. The fill is, understandably, what the feature is filled with, and will often appear quite distinct from the natural soil. The cut and fill are given consecutive numbers for recording purposes. Scaled plans and sections of individual features are all drawn on site, black and white and color photographs of them are taken, and recording sheets are filled in describing the context of each. All this information serves as a permanent record of the archaeology and is used in describing and interpreting the site.

Once artifacts and structures have been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to properly study them, to gain as much data as possible. This process is known as post-excavation analysis, and is normally the most time-consuming part of the archaeological investigation. It is not uncommon for the final excavation reports on major sites to take years to be published.

At its most basic, the artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections, in order to classify them typologically and to identify other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much more comprehensive range of analytical techniques are available through archaeological science, meaning that artifacts can be dated and their compositions examined. The bones, plants and pollen collected from a site can all be analyzed (using the techniques of zooarchaeology, paleoethnobotany, and palynology), while any texts can usually be deciphered.

These techniques frequently provide information that would not otherwise be known and therefore contribute greatly to the understanding of a site.

b) Look through these words and expressions and make sure you can provide Ukrainian equivalents:

a) sites 1. екскаватор
b) provenance 2. з метою документації
c) recent cultures 3. масштабний план
d) backhoe 4. лопатка
e) trowel 5. більш вичерпний
f) for recording purposes 6. походження
g) scaled plan 7. молоді культури
h) more comprehensive 8. залишки поселень

 

c) Give synonyms to the underlined words in these expressions:

¨ to deduce;

¨ to gain as much data as possible;

¨ archaeological investigation;

¨ it is not uncommon;

¨ artifact assemblages;

¨ frequently

d) Explain the expressions in other words:

· domain of amateurs

· verifiably primary context

· a succession of distinct cultures

· mechanical equipment

· topsoil

· features are apparent

· consecutive numbers

· the most time-consuming part

 

e) Find English equivalents for the following:

§ поле діяльності (царина) непрофесіоналів;

§ недоступний (недосяжний);

§ трьохвимірна структура;

§ точне місцезнаходження;

§ об’єкти, що знаходяться поблизу;

§ зачіпати етичні проблеми;

§ цілком (повністю);

§ з великою обережністю;

§ впевнитися (забезпечувати);

§ край (границя);

§ отримати якомога більше даних;

§ бути надрукованим;

§ подібні зібрання артефактів;

§ бути доступним;

§ квітковий пилок;

§ розшифровувати;

§ надавати інформацію;

§ зробити великий внесок

f) Check how well you remember the text:

1. What kind of archaeological information can be provided by excavation?

2. What are the necessary items for making an archaeological record? Why are these data important?

3. How can you characterize the process of excavation?

4. What kind of ethical concerns the process of excavation may involve?

5. Why such mechanical equipment as backhoes is used with great caution?

6. Why is it necessary to form a site plan? What are the steps of this procedure?

7. What can you say about post-excavation analysis? Have you ever participated in such kind of archaeological activity?

8. Why do you think archaeologists try to identify site with similar artifact assemblages?

9. What subfields of historical science can help interpret archaeological data?

 


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