Artifacts are then sorted according to type of material, e.g., stone, ceramic, metal, glass, or bone, and after that into subgroups based on similarities in shape, manner of decoration, or method of manufacture. Delicate pieces may be protected in plaster, polyurethane foam, resin, or latex rubber.Īfter an artifact's position has been mapped and recorded in field notes, the artifact is taken to the site laboratory to be cleaned and labeled. It is important in these cases that an archeological conservator be present at the excavation site to assist in the recovery of artifacts.
Even in dry caves, some recovered materials may require special treatment if they are to be preserved. In wet or submerged sites, the recovery of artifacts is rendered more difficult by the tendency of the artifacts to disintegrate when dried too rapidly. Charcoal samples can be retrieved for age dating in the laboratory using carbon-14 (radiocarbon), for example. Material from ancient hearths may contain seeds, hulls, and small animal bones that help archeologists decipher the diet of that site's occupants. For example, sediments may provide microscopic pollen grains that will aid paleoclimatic reconstructions. This allows recovery of artifacts that typical field-screening techniques would miss. Recovered artifacts are placed in bags (and sometimes assigned field numbers) before being sent to a laboratory for analysis.īesides artifacts, archeologists may take sediment samples from a site back to the laboratory for fine-screening. Some archeologists use specially prepared data sheets to record information about recovered artifacts that is later entered into a computer. Each step of the excavation is recorded with detailed maps and photographs of the site. To understand context, one must take care to document the artifact's exact horizontal and vertical positions, its relationship to the stratum in which it was found (that is, its stratigraphic position), and any cultural factors that contributed to its location. When collecting artifacts from an archeological site, the archeologist endeavors to establish and document the context in which an artifact was found. However, archeological excavation and artifact retrieval always proceeds by well-established methods designed to record as much information as possible about a site and its artifact assemblage, or group of recovered objects. Some artifacts are discovered by accident, for example, by a farmer plowing his field or by a construction worker digging a building foundation. An artifact is any object that was intentionally designed and shaped through human efforts.
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