Dig It?

• http://www.projectarchaeology.org

What is Project Archaeology?

What are the indications ofan archaeological site?

• Artifacts

• Features

Artifacts

• Chipped stone

• Clay

• Bone

• Shell

• Wood

• Fibers

• Metal

These artifacts may have been used in relation to a number of activities including architecture; food procurement, preparationand consumption; defense; tool making; clothing; personal use; recreation; household activities; ceremonies and rituals; and transportation.

Prehistoric Artifacts• Spear points• Arrowheads• Knives• Chipped or broken debris• Ground stone axes• Grinding stones• Mortars and pestles• Awls• Adzes• Gouges• Pottery• Clothing and ornamental pins• Decorative items and ornaments• Scraping tools• Hammer stones• Bone fishhooks• Stone drills• Beads

Historic Artifacts• Glass• Iron and other metal items like nails and coins• Ceramics or china• Metal utensils• Clothing items such as buttons, buckles, leather items• Worked wood• Horse equipage• Gun parts• Household items such as pins, scissors, and thimbles• Furniture hardware• Copper/brass and iron kettle fragments• Beads and ornaments• Farm equipment

Features:

• Soil stains

• Burned earth

• Foundations

• Clusters of artifacts

• Pits

• Earthworks or embankments

• Ash and charcoal lenses and pits

Prehistoric Features• Fire pits and hearths• Burned earth and clay• Trash and garbage pits• Postholes• Evidence of house floors or basins• Storage pits• Chipped and broken stones• Caches of projectile points• Ceramics or pottery sherds• Human and animal burials• Pictographs and petroglyphs• Middens

Historic Features• Evidence of fires and fire pits• Ash and charcoal lenses and stains• Trash and garbage pits• Dumps• Middens• Postholes• House foundations• Cisterns• Fence lines• Ditches• Canals• Landscapes• Mill races• Dams• Old trails and roads• Cemeteries• Human burials• Clusters of historic artifacts• Old parks and cultural landscapes

The presence or occurrence of one or more

artifacts or features indicates an

archaeological site.

Once the site is determined, archaeologists do a lot of

research and planning because after a site has been

excavated, it is no longer there.

They must carefully sift through the site, make detailed

notes, sketch objects, map sites, and take many

photographs.

Digging the site

Sifting for artifacts

Discussion Questions

• Is it legal to disturb the ground for the purpose of obtaining artifacts or human remains?

• Is it legal to surface collect artifacts? • If I surface collect artifacts, who do they belong

to?• If I see or know of looting of an archaeological

site, whom should I contact?• What should I do if I discover remains or know of

disturbance to a human burial site?

Your assignment• Each group will be a team of archaeologists trained in

the skills of culture, context, observation-inference, classification, chronology, scientific inquiry, and hypothesizing.

• Each group will be given a bag of garbage (middens) to learn about the people who threw them away.

• Study the garbage very carefully.• Determine what culture this garbage is from?• What can you infer about the behavior of the owners of

this garbage and the origin of the garbage based on your observations?

• Classify the garbage.• Be ready to tell the complete story of the garbage

owners.

Resources:• Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of

Historic Preservation and Archaeology 402 West Washington Street, Room W274

Indianapolis, Indiana 46204• Bureau of Land Management

National Park ServiceU.S. Forest ServiceThe State of Utah

• Angel Mounds State Historic Site8215 Pollack Avenue

Evansville, Indiana 47715