Introduction to Archaeology SURVEY AND EXCAVATION The first step of any archaeological excavation is the development of a research design.

. A research design consists of formulating a clear question to answer, collecting and recording evidence, processing and analysing that evidence, and the publication of the results. Archaeologists locate the whereabouts of sites through both ground reconnaissance and aerial reconnaissance. Ground reconnaissance can take several forms including surface survey. Surface survey involves walking across potential sites and noting concentrations of features or artefacts go gain some idea of the sites layout. Aerial reconnaissance is usually done in the form of aerial photography. Photos taken from a kite, balloon or plane often reveal site features that are not visible on the ground. From these photos, preliminary maps and plans can be made. Satellite imagery is also used to identify sites and site features. Mapping is the key to the accurate recording of most survey data. GIS (Geographic Information Systems), a collection of computer hardware and software that manages and manipulates geographic data, is one of the primary tools archaeologists use to map sites. Archaeologists employ several methods of obtaining subsurface information prior to excavation. Some of these methods are non-destructive meaning they do not require ground to be broken during the collection of information. GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) for example uses radio pulses to penetrate the ground and detected features such as walls. Electrical resistivity and magnetic survey and even metal detectors as well as geochemical techniques are also used to gather information before excavation. Excavation has a central role in fieldwork as it reveals human activities at a particular period in the past as well as changes in that activity from period to period. Excavation takes into account the law of superposition, namely that if one stratigraphic layer overlies another, the lower was deposited first. Excavation is costly and destructive and should only be undertaken if research questions cannot be answered by non-destructive survey techniques. Artefacts that share similar attributes are often grouped together and the act of creating such groups in called typology. Groups of artefacts from a particular place and time are called assemblages. These assemblages are often used to define archaeological cultures. PROJECT MANAGEMENT/DESIGN: archaeology is a finite resource which means it is our responsibility to preserve archaeology for the future. Excavation is not always possible: money, privately owned land, preservation by legal means, and preservation by record. Project Design is extremely important to use resources efficiently and understand the significance of findings: Sampling system enabled one to examine smaller cells of a larger area to collect data (not always necessary to study entirety of a large site). However need to use a variety of methods alongside sampling as random sampling can lead to false conclusions and inconsistencies within a site. LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY: monuments, features/remains of past societies, reading and recognition of archaeology from landscapes through maps, visual recognitions, practice of investigating field monuments (survey, excavation), BASIS OF MOST ARCHAEOLOGY. Aim to understand the development of existing landscapes, the nature of existing archaeological resources, the nature of past settlement patterns, and how settlements/landscapes changed. Archaeology = LANDSCAPES not sites, cannot understand sites in isolation, landscapes are PALIMPSESTS: written over and over again (construction, destruction, reuse, weathering, etc...). WHERE DO WE BEGIN: existing records and what can already be identified: existing records to interrogate landscapes: - Modern OS (Ordnance Survey) Maps: known archaeological feature, changing nature of landscape, relationship of site to features - Interrogate Modern Boundaries: why are they there? - Problems: what is already identified, earthworks/standing remains, bias of what is depicted and recorded - Old Maps (OS and Tithe): unpeel recent field boundaries, see enclosures in Post Medieval period, reference to historical record WHAT DOES IT TELL US? Land use, arable to pasture, land ownership. LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL: Environmental archaeology is concerned with reconstructing past environments and understanding the ecology of man and other animals and plants living in the same environment, so it works beyond individual sites, uses a range of fieldwork techniques, which are often non-destructive/intrusive. Landscape archaeology = environmental archaeology + PEOPLE. People construct their landscapes and so they are always SOCIAL demonstrating aspects of diversity, gender, productivity. There is a sense of sequence in landscape archaeology (landscape palimpsest) with an ancestral presence. STANDING REMAINS: archaeological survey which detail date, features and information of the site and period. AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: a technique that has proved to be one of the most successful methods of discovering archaeological sites. Large areas of ground can be covered quickly, and the ground plan of a new site can be plotted from the photographs. Accurate surveys can in fact be made by this method as they reveal shadow marks, soil marks or frost marks, crop marks, walls and buildings. Different photos reveal different things: Alluviation Satellite Images, Grid Field Aerial Photography, Vertical Air Photography, Oblique Photography. Furthermore, weather/light conditions affect the visibility and interpretation of photos. Works with other methods. GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY: the physics of the earth. Many archaeological dating methods may be said to be based on geophysical principles. Geophysical methods are often used to investigate archaeological sites without (or prior to) excavation. Geophysical methods reveal buildings, ditches, enclosures, fields. For example: Roman Wroxeter provided the most extensive evidence of a RomanoBritish civitas, even providing glimpses into prehistory with ring ditches and underlying defences preceding the Iron Age level. - MAGNETROMETRY: magnetic survey is one of the most commonly used Geophysical surveying methods. The strength of the earths magnetic field is measured using a MAGNETOMETER. Measurements are made in a grid-pattern of points all over a

suspected site. Features buried underground may have a modifying effect on the strength of the earths field recorded at the surface, e.g. hearths, kilns and other burned structures containing large quantities of iron oxide. (2D technique). - RESISTIVITY: resistivity meter is used for measuring electrical resistance in resistivity survey. Generally done through an array of 4 electrodes, pushed into the ground surface. Despite their name, resistivity meters do not actually measure resistivity but ground resistance. Readings are taken in a grid-pattern of points all over a suspected site. Variation of resistance through a site is caused mainly by differences in the amount of water contained in pore spaces of deposits and structures, e.g. ground resistance may rise to a high level over a stone wall or fall to a low level over a ditch filled with more loosely packed material. The outline of features may be seen if the readings are plotted in a plan. - GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar): a method of subsurface detection in which short radio pulses are sent through the soil such that the echoes reflect back significant changes in soil conditions (3D technique). Provides time-slices or time-maps which locate buried features at successive depths, generating a map of colours for differentiation, e.g. Forum Novum GPR produced an architectural layout of the site which means future excavation can be focussed and concentrated. TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY: landscape measuring, fibre glass tapes, electronic total stations measuring angles and distances to locate detail points, infrared and laser technology, GPS devices, sub-meter system, Survey-Grade equipment can locate points with an accuracy of a centimetre, hand or electronically generated drawings of a landscape, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) artificially illuminated surface from a lidar model, Last-Pulse lidar data can allow the recording of surface features even when undercover. EXCAVATION: 12/13/14th century archaeological excavation began as essentially grave robbing, barrow diggings or treasure hunting. Early excavators had little concern for structures and no understanding of how layers of soil and material had been formed. Gradually the retrieval of goods for collection began and so the techniques of preservation developed. Although our discipline began so early, many gaps have been left/created due to the lack of recording. PITT RIVERS C19th: realised that to fully grasp importance of a landscape or artefact a full study of the site had to be undertaken and so stressed the importance of the stratigraphic nature of a site: excavate to remove deposits in a chronological order. MORTIMER WHEELER C20th: developed techniques for capturing the archaeological sequence of a site: - Box System: grid system of systematic digging whereby the field was divided into small squares, each separated by narrow bulk never excavated. This method permitted an area to be excavated yet preserved a vertical cross-section that revealed strata of the site on which the trench was dug. - Baulks: unexcavated walls provides stratigraphic control. - Horizontal Observations/Vertical Sequences: plan of sites and understanding site formations. - 20th century: aimed to study site as a WHOLE looking at the CONTEXT to get maximum information key-hole excavation, site formation processes, SEQUENCING, relationships and single context readings. RESEARCH EXCAVATION: planned, long-term, projects undertaken to answer a set of questions. University/community. TIME/MONEY RESCUE EXCAVATION: usually commercially driven in advance of development as part of planning process in local government OR in response to natural processes, e.g. coastal erosion. RESTRICTIONS ON TIME/MONEY. Fast/dirty process using machinery. Problems with data retrieval. Reasons for excavation dictate excavation strategy and use of different techniques, e.g. urban vs. Rural. GOOD EXCAVATION: thorough, clear aims, research, strategies, TIME, MONEY/FUNDING, ideology, test pits, horizontal excavations, stripping excavations, trenching. CAUSE AS LITTLE DESTRUCTION AS POSSIBLE. PRE EXCAVATION: SECURE FUNDING excavation is expensive and there are a number of ways you can secure funding: - Polluter Pays: commercial archaeology/development - National Research: AHRC, NERC - National Bodies: English Heritage, Historic Scotland - Academic Foundations - VOLUNTEER PAYMENTS: in 80s became more popular so people pay to participate on archaeological excavations - Desk top assessment satellite/aerial photos, historical/local anecdotal research into site - Survey: geophysical and topographical EXCAVATION PROCESSES THEN POST EXCAVATION AND PUBLISHING: excavation material depends on condition of site. - Artefact Conservation - Process Samples for: radiocarbon dating, plant material, beetles, smaller bones - Specialist Identification and Analyses - Excavation Director: interpret and synthesise various lines of evidence PUBLISHING: collaborating all data evidence and PUBLISH: developer requirements, academic validity, judgement of peers, RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM, public knowledge as official reports, public dissemination, academic publication.