What do archeologists do?

A NPS archeologist digging at Arlington House.

NPS

Archeologists do many things, but their main task is to excavate archeological sites and uncover information about the people who once lived there. Archeological sites are places that show evidence of previous human activity that can help archeologists learn about the past. These sites are often times buried and no longer visible or covered up by new buildings. Examples of archeological sites include sunken ships, Native American villages, churches, farms, and even battlefields.

The primary way that archeologists gather information at archeological sites is through excavation or field work. Excavation is the process of retrieving, defining, and recording cultural and biological remains. The most common archeological findings at a site are artifacts and features. Artifacts are materials that have been left behind by the people that used to live there. The most common types of artifacts discovered are projectile points (which you may know as arrowheads), pieces of stone that were “flaked” off to produce those projectile points, pieces of old pottery and ceramics (archeologists call these sherds), or even bullets fired during the Civil War. Features are elements of human activity that are permanently embedded into the landscape such as ditches, berms, and raised foundations. Most features created by humans in the past served as some kind of function for a structure or building.

You may be wondering how archeologists conduct these excavations. They do so through what is called the archeological process. The archeological process is a series of steps that are necessary so that the greatest amount of information can be collected from an archeological site. This will provide archeologists with the best information possible to answer questions about how people lived and used the land before us. The steps of the archeological process are as follows:

 

1. Create a hypothesis and research design

The first step involves a research design and hypothesis. This is possibly the most important step to the archeological process because without it the information collected at a site will be useless and you won’t know what to look for when conducting field work. The types of questions that archeologists ask about an archeological site are often concerned with the people that lived there and what they did. Specifically, questions seek to answer what resources they used, how they practiced their religion, what their culture was, and how they structured their settlements. As archeologists write these questions, they begin to construct a research design that will guide them towards answering these questions. This research design can include what kind of excavation will be conducted, how many people will be needed, and whether or not special accommodations and support will be needed to assist in the excavations. Furthermore, tribal consultation begins in this step so that an ethical dialog between Native Americans and researchers is performed. Often times, tribal consultation will assist archeologists in asking informative questions about a site.

2. Gain legal permission to conduct your excavation

The second step involves getting permission to perform field work. It is illegal for archeologists to dig on land that they don’t have permission to dig on first. There are federal laws, such as the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) that prevents unnecessary destruction to sites and lay a foundation for ethical excavations. Not only is the federal government contacted in this step to get permission but so are the Native American tribes whose land is often times a focus of archeological research. Tribal cooperation is an important part of the archeological process.

 

The Archeological Resources Protection Act

The Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) of 1979 provides archeologists and law enforcement the necessary tools to protect archeological resources on federal land. If you ever find an artifact when visiting a National Park, inform a park ranger where you found the artifact and leave it be. It is illegal to remove an artifact from federal land and you may be subject to fines or jail time. Furthermore, removing an artifact prevents the archeological process from taking place because the artifact is now disturbed. A disturbed artifact prevents research from being done and prevents archeologists from collecting valuable information.  

 

Tribal Cooperation

Tribal cooperation has garnered a great deal of dialogue in the past decade. Historic injustices experienced by Indigenous Americans who have been systematically displaced from ancestral lands has led to a period of reflection when it comes to the work done by archeologists. For much of its history late 19th and early 20th century archeology ignored the concerns of Indigenous Americans whose cultural heritage was taken away and displayed at museums. To perform a more ethical archeology and avoid the mistakes of the past, it is necessary to cooperate and build meaningful relationships with tribes where archeological sites may be found. Working together with tribes during the archeological process ensures that Indigenous American’s voices and concerns are heard ensuring a more meaningful and ethical conclusion to an archeological excavation. 

 

3. Perform background research on the archeological site

The third step in the archeological process is collecting background information on the site. During this process archeologists will gather information from previous archeological excavations, written and oral histories of the site, geological maps/surveys, historical documents, and historic maps of the archeological site and area. This information will assist the archeologist in deciding where to spend most of their time on field work.

4. Conduct field work and excavations

The fourth step is actually conducting the field work at the archeological site. Usually, field work is conducted by a field crew who are assigned to the project. Their job is to excavate the archeological site through a variety of methods. Methods include digging shovel test pits (STPs) which are small foot-wide holes that are excavated until the archeologist reaches subsoil, or soil that no longer shows evidence of human activity. Next, the dirt removed from these STPs goes through a mesh-wire screen, to remove dirt and reveal any artifacts found. It is important to remember that archeology is a destructive process and permanently disrupts the context of the artifact in the ground. This is why documentation of where the artifact came from is so important so that dating can be accomplished. Other methods of excavation include test units which are square cuts into the archeological site that take a significantly longer amount of time to excavate than STPs. Test units are more precise and oftentimes an STP with a lot of artifacts will lead the archeologist to “open a unit.” This allows the archeologist to better asses the condition of the artifacts and allow for better answers for the archeological site. Another, and more advanced excavation technique is a trench which is a long test unit that cuts through many periods of occupation at the site. Throughout this process the lead archeologist with the most experience will take extensive field notes each day that explain what was done. Field notes will include great detail on where the artifact was recovered, how deep in the ground it was, and what other artifacts may have been found surrounding it. These field notes are important in the later step of presenting this information.

 

Noninvasive Archeology

Not all archeological excavations need to be destructive. Sometimes it may be necessary to perform noninvasive archeological surveying methods. Noninvasive archeological surveys may need to be performed if time is limited, budgets are tight, or it is desirable to not disturb a site anymore. Noninvasive surveying methods include ground penetrating radar (GPR), aerial photography, and field walking.

 

5. Curate the recorded information in properly stored facilities

The fifth step is curating the artifacts recovered at the site. Not all artifacts will be kept from excavation. Some artifacts may be modern and not important to answering the questions that archeologists asked. The artifacts that are kept need to be properly washed, bagged, labeled, tagged, cataloged, and archived so that future archeologists conducting background research, or historians, may understand what was uncovered during the excavations. Another important part of this process is to store the field notes so that these records are not lost.

6. Write up the information and share it with concerned parties

The sixth step is the longest and most time-consuming step of the archeological process. You may imagine archeologists as always being in the field, but most of their time is actually spent indoors in archeological labs. This is where the archeologist puts together a site report or research paper that presents the findings from the site. It is here where the hypotheses are tested and more information on the site is gathered. Sometimes the hypotheses may not have been answered and it is necessary to conduct another round of excavations. Once the information is put together it is presented to the public or others interested in the findings of the archeologists.