How would you explain the process of excavation?
And how does it differ from
exploration in terms of purpose and methods?
Archeological excavation refers to the method which is used by archaeologists in order to
recover and study artefacts and other evidence of past human activities. The past activities
create many residues which, in one way or the other, assist in the reconstruction of the past
culture, and archeological excavation involves the act of clearing soil, sediment, or rock
layers that overlay the content or other attributes of human occupation. The survival of this
profile may differ and depends on the type of environment and geological characteristics of
the given territory. Recognition and existence also depend on how much the remains of the
past were eroded or affected by later activities such as farming or construction.
These site formation processes provide a site with its present-day characteristics, and this
plays a major role in influencing the kind of excavation that is done. However, in order to get
to the stage of excavation, one has to find the site, and it is also important to take a closer
look at the site. One has to remember that the natural environment and all the artefacts
found on the site are preserved during the process of excavation. It is also another step to
mark the size and depth of the site by drawing the site that is to be excavated. However,
once these two significant processes have already been accomplished, then the excavation
work can proceed.
Excavation procedures constitute a variety of element types, and each element type also
needs distinct methods, equipment, and methods. Digging in the early years was a
haphazard process and entailed scooping and removing objects without many coordinates
noted. Current excavation processes include taking small successful layers and systematic
removal of sediments, screening these sediments in small portions, and carefully measuring
and noting the position of artefacts. Photography of the site, ongoing work and cataloging of
the objects excavated is also a very important part of the excavation. During excavation,
some of the processes/strategies are as follows-
Grid Excavation:
An archaeological site can be divided into squares of a given size, forming a box. Each of
the squares is assigned a number and then dug up, leaving one wall known as a baulk intact
in between the squares. Each baulk gives a vertical record of the layers that have been
encountered, and these layers are known as the strata, and all that has been found within
them are labeled.
Trench Excavation:
It is a method of digging that is typically relatively narrow in comparison with its length and is
employed in archeological work for trenching of antiquities. It makes it possible for the
archaeologist to scoop into layers of accumulated debris and work through the depositional
layers in a temporal sequence. This method is considered to be safe to be used for
excavation, and it only blows up a small part of the site, and at the same time, it only reveals
some part of the ancient feature as well.
Vertical Excavation:
This method of excavation provides a record of the sequence of the probabilities of ancient
ruins or artefacts. This identification of the sequence and the arrangement of layers in the
sites refers to Stratigraphy. Excavation is made in soft or boggy conditions, unconsolidated
formations in which the banks require shoring or sheathing. The information obtained during
the excavation is restricted to the trends in the cultural practices of the site. The differences
in the color or the texture of the soil make it possible to distinguish different layers.
Horizontal Excavation:
It is done in a broad area in order to uncover the artefacts that belong to a single point in
time. Horizontal digging had the goal of gathering synchronic data and how the site was
functioning. In this type of excavation, the archaeologist may plough lines across the site to
expose such items as those found on the surface of the ground, and layer by layer, the base
of the site is exposed.
