archaeological excavation
Systematic artifact recovery
Archaeological excavation is the systematic digging and recording of a site to uncover artifacts, structures, and other traces of past human activity.
Unlike casual digging, it proceeds methodically—often in grids—with careful documentation of where each object was found, since context reveals as much as the objects themselves: The archaeological excavation of Pompeii has continued for centuries.
- dig siteArchaeological excavation location
- anthropologyStudy of human cultures
- trowelFlat blade for spreading
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- layer by layerIn successive horizontal sections
test pit · surveying · pottery shards · stone tools · artifact recovery · brush · flotation · trenching · shovel · photogrammetry · history · ancient ruins · lost civilization · cultural heritage · bones · pickaxe · geology · documentation
archaeological excavationtreasure hunting
Searching for hidden valuables
looting · tomb raiding · plundering · pillaging · metal detecting
archaeological excavationburial
Placing deceased underground
interment · backfilling · entombment · reburial · construction
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