ANT 309 Lecture Outline January 30, 2008

IV The recovery of archaeological data: Testing and Full-scale Subsurface Investigation

A Testing-- Initial subsurface exploration-- also referred to as test excavation Testing is intended to give you some preliminary information on

1 depth of a deposit

2 areal extent of a site

3 Type and distribution of constituents

4 Presence/absence features

5 Develop preliminary hypotheses

a Age

b Function

6 Types of vertical testing

a manual excavation units -- 1 x 2 or 1 x 1 m

b Backhoe trenching

c Augering

d Shovel probes

7 Horizontal testing

a Surface transect units (STUs)

b Large units (5 x 5 m) very shallow

8 Provenience: the horizontal and vertical location of an artifact, ecofact, or feature; Provenience controls: Controls set up to facilitate recording of provenience

B Full Scale Excavation

1 Conducted with constraints of time and money

2 Research Design: A plan

a Questions that investigators hope to address

b Types of data they need to address them

c Description of methods to be employed

d Safety plan