The Science of Excavation
Excavation is slow, difficult, and sometimes unrewarding work. It is much more than the removal of dirt. Excavation requires research, recording, note taking, surveying, and mapping. Even after finding artifacts, the work is not done. After one month in the field, six months are needed to examine the artifacts carefully.
Archeological sites are usually found by luck or by digging near other sites. As soon as a probable excavation site is located, an imaginary grid is placed on the site. When an artifact is found it is numbered according to the grid. Usually, the topsoil is free of artifacts. This soil is cut up into squares and taken away. When this is done, one of many excavation techniques is used. These include the baulk system where a wall is left between the excavation area for stability, probabilistic sampling, and checkerboard excavation in which square by square of soil is removed until the site looks like a checker board. All of these techniques has its strengths and weaknesses.
As you can see, archeology is difficult, painstaking work. But it is a great way to learn about the past.
References:
Archeology: A Step in Time December 11,2000 <http://collections.ic.gc.ca/archaeology/second/archaeology/science/excavation/excavation.html>
