Fieldwork Activities
Although archaeology encompasses both above-ground and buried resources, it is most commonly associated with excavation, or ‘digs.’ Much of the work FOSA performs in support of the OSA focuses on these types of projects. There are, in fact, many steps involved in a successful dig, any of which can occupy one or more days and all of which may extend over several weeks depending on the site’s circumstances.
1. Site Review
Potential sites must first be identified as archaeologically significant before excavation begins. Identification often occurs through serendipity, such as artifacts being exposed by construction, farming, public reports, or natural erosion. Researchers also locate sites by studying town and historical records or by interviewing local residents.
Many projects involve areas proposed for economic development. The Office of State Archaeology (OSA) reviews these proposals for municipal governments. If the OSA identifies a concern in an area lacking survey regulations, then FOSA may assist with fieldwork before construction starts.
Before examining a site, researchers must secure the owner’s permission or obtain the necessary permits for state or town-owned land. Once authorized, FOSA members may participate in the subsequent site location and geophysical surveys.
2. Site Location &
Geo-Physical Survey
Once identified as archaeologically significant, a site is examined to determine optimal excavation locations.
Initial surveys employ both below-ground shovel testing and non-destructive geophysical equipment. Tools such as Electromagnetic Imaging (EMI), metal detecting, and Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR)—originally developed for locating tunnels—allow archaeologists to detect subsurface disturbances and structures without excavating. Through a federal-state partnership, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) provides GPR equipment and technicians to the OSA to help identify and preserve these sites.
Archaeologists complement these surveys with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps to analyze elevation, water pathways, and property lines. Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements are used alongside GPR and GIS data to precisely fix site locations.
Once potential areas of interest are identified, they are marked for test excavations—including pits, borings, and trenches—to further determine the site’s significance.
3. Test Excavations
Geo-physical tests will provide information on the extent of a below-ground anomaly; however, sub-surface excavations are required to determine what that anomaly may be in archaeological context. So, once an area of potential is located, test excavations or soil cores are conducted.
Small shovel-test pits are excavated systematically over the area of interest to provide extensive coverage. Test pits will (hopefully) locate the site and determine its boundaries. Should artifacts or features be encountered during the test process, further testing is conducted in the area to assess the site’s significance.
If the site is considered significant — that is, if it can yield important information about the past — and the site is threatened with vandalism or development, then full scale excavations can proceed.
4. Grid Layout
To record the exact provenience of all findings, archaeologists establish a grid using a surveyor’s transit, compass, and tapes to control horizontal and vertical placement relative to a permanent datum. The site is divided into North-South and East-West units in a checkerboard fashion, with squares further subdivided into quadrangles to refine artifact locations. Because time and labor constraints rarely allow for a full excavation, a sampling strategy is developed to select specific units that will provide a representative sample of the site’s artifacts and activities.
Once target units are identified, the ground cover, or “duff,” is removed to reveal the underlying soil. All depth measurements and spatial data are meticulously recorded in the site log as excavation begins within the established grid boundaries. This systematic approach ensures every discovered item is precisely mapped to its original position before being removed from the ground.
5. Excavate Level by Level
Excavation involves the systematic removal of soil and debris to reveal artifacts suspended in a three-dimensional matrix.
Using a masonry trowel, archaeologists strip away thin layers of soil to uncover associations between items that may represent distinct cultural time periods stratified by depth.
When artifacts are uncovered, their precise location, depth, and orientation are documented through drawings and photography.
Even when no items are immediately visible, all removed soil is collected and processed in a screening area to recover any small artifacts missed during the initial excavation.
6. Screening
Screening is done to ensure that nothing “falls through the cracks” during an excavation. Hopefully, all artifacts are found within the grid unit being excavated so that they can be mapped to their exact horizontal / vertical position. The screen serves as a backup if the artifact is missed.
In this process, soil which has been removed during the layer-by-layer excavations is first collected into a bucket. This is dumped onto a screen mounted on a flexible platform, which is then shaken to filter out the soil.
What’s left over on the screen is then examined to determine if it’s of archaeological interest or not. If so, the potential artifact is bagged for later evaluation; otherwise it’s discarded.
Artifacts captured in the screen are bagged for transport to the laboratory for processing. The bag has all the data associated with the excavated unit: site name, unit number, etc.
7. Interpretation
Site interpretation occurs continuously during and after excavation. To the trained eye, even minor artifacts provide significant insights into a site’s history. While skeletal remains and burial artifacts are treated with dignity and may require re-burial or project alterations, most finds are mundane items like potsherds, buttons, bottles, and projectile points.
Archaeologists also analyze soil color changes to identify features like postholes, which indicate former shelters or stockades. Similarly, patterns on pottery and the morphology of projectile points reveal cultural heritage, age, and trade contacts.
Midden heaps and animal bones offer clues regarding diet, prosperity, and local wildlife. Through radiocarbon dating and species identification, researchers determine the age of remains and whether animals were wild or domesticated.
8. Lab Process & Report Writing
While the public often views archaeologists primarily as excavators, fieldwork is only the data recovery phase. Significant time is spent in the laboratory processing, cataloging, and digitizing artifacts to produce final reports. Volunteers often assist with these tasks, and organizations like FOSA even maintain funds for specialized analysis, such as radiocarbon dating.
The processing phase begins with the field bags, which record critical context: date, site, grid coordinates, and depth. This data is essential for laboratory analysis. For historic sites, this work is supplemented by interviewing local historians and researching primary sources like newspapers and journals to fully understand the site’s history.
Final documentation and artifacts are generally stored at the Connecticut Archaeological Center (CAC). Although artifacts legally belong to the property owner, they are frequently donated to the CAC, museums, or historical societies. Findings are then shared through publications, open houses, and annual meetings.
9. Site Preservation
The primary goals of OSA and FOSA are to leave sites in place for future generations of archaeologists. OSA estimates that we are losing 50-60 archaeological sites a year to development, vandalism and natural erosion.
We only excavate those sites in immediate danger; however, when possible, we preserve archaeological sites through land management, open space, historic preservation easements, and other non-destructive strategies.
Future generations of archaeologists will have far better technological tools available to them to extract more information from their excavations than we could possibly achieve today. So, it is important that they have sites to research. That will only come about through active archaeological site conservation and public awareness of their significance.
For more information, please see the Fieldwork FAQ.