Ancient Sites and Sources 1.2-1.3

What types of excavation can be used?

• Vertical Excavation

• Open-area excavation

• Horizontal excavation

• The grid system

Open-area excavation:

• - Focuses on the ​ (a)   space of a site.

• - It works by uncovering the whole site layer by layer.

• - benefits: allows us to ​ (b)   the relationship between the things found in each layer or ​ (c)   .

• - deficiencies: more ​ (d)   process and is more difficult when you are comparing ​ (e)   -period deposits.

• horizontal
• larger
• compare
• stratum
• demanding
• several
• minimal

The grid system:

• - Focuses on the ​ (a)   dimension of a site.

• - The site is divided into a grid of squares.  Each square is then excavated leaving a wall (​ (b)   ) in between. Each baulk provides a vertical record of the sequence of layers in relation to each other.

• - benefits: grid ​ (c)   to help record valuable information of ​ (d)   . It is also great for comparing many different source materials from different periods.

• - deficiencies: some finds may be left in baulks and this could ​ (e)   archaeologists’ from identifying a spatial pattern.

• baulk
• vertical
• horizontal
• coordinates
• find spot
• prevent
• allow

Often archaeologists ask questions about past civilisations or they need to test a hypothesis. To test this hypothesis (an educated guess about the past) they need to conduct and excavation to discover archaelogical source material left behind by these past civilisations.

This is called a ________ dig

Organise these options into the right categories

Groups:

(a) Aerial Survey

,

(b) Ground Survey

,

(c) Geophysical Survey

• Ground Penetrating Radar

• Shadow marks

• Magnetometry

• Crop marks

• Soil marks

• Field walking

• Resistivity

• Satellite photography

What has LiDAR technology helped us understand about Angkor Wat?

• reveals the king, Jayaraman

• reveals its growth and decline

• reveals that it was a megacity

• all of the above

What is stratigraphy?

• The study of ancient civilizations

• The study of soil and rock layers at an archaeological site

• The study of artifacts found in museums

• The study of fossils and prehistoric animals

What does the principle of superposition state?

• The oldest layers are at the top, and the youngest are at the bottom.

• Layers of rock and soil are created by earthquakes.

• The oldest layers are at the bottom, and the youngest are at the top.

• Artefacts are randomly distributed in an archaeological site.

Why is it important for archaeologists to keep each stratum (layer) separate during an excavation?

• To avoid damaging the artefacts

• To preserve the natural beauty of the site

• To match artifacts to the correct time period of the stratum

• To ensure that all artifacts are found quickly

If archaeologists discover tools made of bronze and tools made of iron in different layers, what can they infer?

• The tools were made by the same people at the same time

• The site was used for storing tools of all types

• The layers represent different time periods with different technologies

• The tools were used for trade with other civilizations