earthwork
Mounded soil defense
Earthwork refers to large-scale excavation and movement of soil, especially in construction and engineering: The earthwork for the new highway took months.
In military contexts, earthworks are defensive fortifications made from mounded earth—trenches, ramparts, and embankments: Civil War earthworks still scar the Virginia landscape.
Archaeological earthworks include ancient mounds and ditches shaped by human activity.
Act of unearthing
- moundHeaped earth formation
- trenchLong narrow excavation
- digUnearth by shoveling
- burialPlacing deceased underground
ceremonial · prehistoric · settlement · artifacts · stratigraphy · remains · pottery · tools
Heaped earth formation
- installationProcess of putting in
- site-specificTied to one location
- environmentalOf natural surroundings
- landscapeVisible features of terrain
Fortified defensive wall
- embankmentRaised earth structure
- parapetLow wall at edge
- trenchLong narrow excavation
- redoubtEnclosed temporary fortification
entrenchment · bulwark · berm · breastwork · defensive · siege · military · bastion
Act of unearthing
- gradingAssigning marks to work
- fillMake something full
- embankmentRaised earth structure
- foundationUnderlying support structure
compaction · trench · topsoil · subgrade · berm · levee · dam · dike
excavation
Act of unearthing
burial · ceremonial · prehistoric · settlement · artifacts · stratigraphy · remains · pottery · tools · neolithic
mound
Heaped earth formation
- installationProcess of putting in
- site-specificTied to one location
- environmentalOf natural surroundings
landscape · monumental · impermanence · reclamation · topography
rampart
Fortified defensive wall
- embankmentRaised earth structure
- parapetLow wall at edge
- trenchLong narrow excavation
redoubt · entrenchment · bulwark · berm · breastwork · defensive · siege · military · bastion · bunker
excavation
Act of unearthing
- gradingAssigning marks to work
- fillMake something full
- embankmentRaised earth structure
foundation · compaction · trench · topsoil · subgrade · berm · levee · dam · dike · drainage
- earth-relatedrock, stone, sand, mud, dirt
- defenseswall, walls, fence, gate, barrier
- fortificationsfort, fortress, fortresses, citadel, citadels
- historic sitesruins, historic site, basilica, monument, fortress
- defensibilitymoat, fortress, bunker, stronghold, citadel
- earthen structuresadobe, cob, mudbrick, adobe brick, adobe house