AR101 Lecture Notes - Archaeological Culture, Cofferdam, Small Finds
Document Summary
Basic principals & approaches to excavation, recovery process. Flexibility in methodology is required, you never know what you will encounter until your there. Therefore, researchers look for structures and features instead. Over 200 houses were exposed but he never reached the bottom of the mound: because of where the baulks are in, it"s hard to distinguish one house from another. Baulks may also be sitting on something important. Cofferdam: for sites that are wet or underwater: pump water out so that the artifacts can be unveiled. Sometimes they may keep the water in to preserve the artifacts. Archaeologists strata refer to the accumulation of natural and cultural debris in successive layers. Each layer represents a distinct period/ activity. The vertical section/ profile shows the accumulated layers creating a sequence. Superposition: the one at the bottom is always the oldest, and things are layered on top (youngest on top)