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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archaeology | 6/11 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T15:06:27.665454+00:00 | kb-cron |
Aerial survey is conducted using cameras attached to airplanes, balloons, UAVs, or even Kites. A bird's-eye view is useful for quick mapping of large or complex sites. Aerial photographs are used to document the status of the archaeological dig. Aerial imaging can also detect many things not visible from the surface. Plants growing above a buried human-made structure, such as a stone wall, will develop more slowly, while those above other types of features (such as middens) may develop more rapidly. Photographs of ripening grain, which changes colour rapidly at maturation, have revealed buried structures with great precision. Aerial photographs taken at different times of day will help show the outlines of structures by changes in shadows. Aerial survey also employs ultraviolet, infrared, ground-penetrating radar wavelengths, Lidar and thermography. Geophysical survey can be the most effective way to see beneath the ground. Magnetometers detect minute deviations in the Earth's magnetic field caused by iron artifacts, kilns, some types of stone structures, and even ditches and middens. Devices that measure the electrical resistivity of the soil are also widely used. Archaeological features whose electrical resistivity contrasts with that of surrounding soils can be detected and mapped. Some archaeological features (such as those composed of stone or brick) have higher resistivity than typical soils. In comparison, others (such as organic deposits or unfired clay) tend to have lower resistivity. Although some archaeologists consider the use of metal detectors to be tantamount to treasure hunting, others deem them an effective tool in archaeological surveying. Examples of formal archaeological use of metal detectors include musketball distribution analysis on English Civil War battlefields, metal distribution analysis before excavation of a 19th-century ship wreck, and service cable location during evaluation. Metal detectorists have also contributed to archaeology, where they have made detailed records of their results and refrained from raising artifacts from their archaeological context. In the UK, metal detectorists have been invited to participate in the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Regional survey in underwater archaeology uses geophysical or remote sensing devices such as a marine magnetometer, side-scan sonar, or sub-bottom sonar.
=== Excavation ===
Archaeological excavation has existed even when the field was still the domain of amateurs, and it remains the primary source of data recovered in most field projects. It can reveal several types of information that are usually not accessible through surveys, 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, their vertical positions as well (see also Primary Laws of Archaeology). Likewise, their association, or relationship with nearby objects and features, needs to be recorded for later analysis. This allows the archaeologist to deduce which 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 succession of distinct cultures occupied a site, artifacts from more recent cultures will lie above those from earlier ones. Excavation is the most expensive phase of archaeological research, in relative terms. Also, as a destructive process, it carries ethical concerns. As a result, very few sites are excavated in their entirety. Again, the percentage of a site excavated depends greatly on the country and the "method statement" issued. Sampling is even more important in excavation than in survey. Sometimes large mechanical equipment, such as backhoes (JCBs), is 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 create a site plan and then use it to help determine the excavation method. Features dug into the natural subsoil are normally excavated in portions 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 it meets the natural soil. It is the feature's boundary. The fill is 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 colour photographs of them are taken; and recording sheets are filled in, describing the context of each feature. All this information serves as a permanent record of the now-destroyed archaeology and is used to describe and interpret the site.
=== Analysis ===
Once artifacts and structures have been excavated or collected during surface surveys, they must be studied properly. This process is known as post-excavation analysis, and is usually the most time-consuming part of an archaeological investigation. It is not uncommon for final excavation reports for major sites to take years to be published. At a basic level of analysis, artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections. This comparison process often involves classifying them typologically and identifying other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much broader range of analytical techniques is available through archaeological science, allowing artifacts to be dated and their compositions examined. Bones, plants, and pollen collected from a site can all be analysing using the methods of zooarchaeology, paleoethnobotany, palynology and stable isotopes while any texts can usually be deciphered. These techniques frequently provide information that would not otherwise be known, thereby contributing greatly to understanding a site.
== Subfields ==
As with most academic disciplines, there are a very large number of archaeological sub-disciplines characterized by a specific method or type of material (e.g., lithic analysis, music, archaeobotany), geographical or chronological focus (e.g. Near Eastern archaeology, Islamic archaeology, Medieval archaeology), other thematic concern (e.g. maritime archaeology, landscape archaeology, battlefield archaeology), or a specific archaeological culture or civilization (e.g. Egyptology, Indology, Sinology).
=== Historical archaeology ===