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DiScOvErInG HiStOrY The excavation


When the archaeologists have found a location they want to investigate, they have to plan the excavation or dig very carefully to make sure nothing gets broken. They also have to preserve the site from bad weather or from people destroying it. After the top layer of soil has been removed by a digger or by pickaxes, they begin work.


Fig 1.12 Archaeologists dig at the Cradle of Humankind site in South Africa, a place rich in human ancestor fossils.


Archaeologists use a large number of tools: ● Pick-axes loosen the soil. ● A trowel can remove smaller amounts of soil. ● Brushes allow soil to be very delicately removed from an artefact. ● Sieves are used to make sure no artefact, no matter how small, is thrown away with the soil. ● During a dig, drawing frames are used to record the position of each artefact found. ● The dig is constantly photographed and drawings are also made to make sure that the archaeologist does not forget where everything was located.


● Each artefact is catalogued into a site book and a computer. As the artefacts are being catalogued, they are numbered and sorted before being sent to the laboratory.


● Finally, the artefacts are brought to a museum where they are kept and sometimes displayed to the public.


RECALL 1. What are artefacts? Give an example of an artefact. 2. Explain what an archaeologist does. 3. List some of the ways in which artefacts may end up in the ground. 4. List the tools that an archaeologist would use at a dig and explain how each one is used.


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