Archaeologists examine each object to find out what it is, how it was made, how old it is, and what it was used for. Newly found artifacts are compared to other ones that archaeologists already know about.

Comparisons help them understand if people at different sites interacted or were in the same group. With the artifact and site maps they have constructed, archaeologists can reconstruct what happened at the site. After they have been sorted and analyzed, the artifacts are carefully stored.