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Process of Archaeology / Fieldwork

Documentation

Mapping

Careful excavation and mapping of features, knowing what was found with what, and where it was found, helps us to know what people were doing in the past. This provides the context of the artifacts.

A grid is established over the site, so that artifact locations can be plotted. A sketch map is created for each level of each unit or feature. Individual artifacts are also plotted where they form clusters or patterns.

Mapping

Profiles

Paperwork

Photography and Other Documentation

One level from Feature 139 at the Pammel Creek site, with the corresponding field map.
Pammel Creek 139 level 5 Drawing

 

Profiles

A site is like a layer cake, and the different layers represent different activities. Archaeologists must understand the vertical placement of artifacts in order to know what happened over time. Drawing the cross-section of a feature or unit allows these vertical zones to be recorded and interpreted.

Extensive excavations at the Sand Lake site in Onalaska, Wisconsin, revealed a series of ridged fields where the fertile topsoil was heaped up to form ridges along which corn and beans were planted. The fields were first formed about 1400 AD. During the next hundred years, sediment eroded from the surround uplands and buried the fields. New fields were created within the new sediments, and the process continued. A profile through the ridged fields reveals a series of such episodes.
Sandlake Profile Drawing
The photograph shows feature 139 from the Pammel Creek site after half of the feature had been excavated, exposing the profile. The drawing shows the different zones defined in the pit. Each zone may represent a separate activity such as a separate dump of debris into the pit.
Pammel Creek f139 Profile Drawing

 

Paperwork

Without a good record of what was done at a site, what was found, where it was found, and under what conditions, excavation is just destruction. Records are created for each site, unit, and feature. Tags identify all artifacts. Photographic records, surveying records, and a wealth of other documents are created. These records are critical to the project, and are kept on file permanently.

Feature Level Excavation Form
Summary Feature Form

Sample feature level excavation form and summary feature form. These document level 5 of Feature 139 at the Pammel Creek site.

 

Photography and Other Documentation

Photography (film, digital, video) is essential to documenting the process of archaeological excavation. Photos capture subtleties not otherwise documented. They also provide a strong visual images to help understand the archaeological materials in their context.

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MVAC Educational Programs are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project was supported in part by the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.