Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.
Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.[more]
An important part of any archaeological excavation is the recording of artefacts and deposits with measurements, plans and photographs. Archaeologists are just as interested in finding information about the context of artefacts as they are in the artefacts themselves.
During an excavation, archaeologists will recover many kinds of samples. In addition to recording common artefacts, such as pieces of pottery, archaeologists take environmental samples. This is done so that they can find other materials such as pollen, plant parts, human and animal bone, and shell.
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