Excavation

After archaeologists have surveyed a site, they begin excavating it. First, they lay down string across the ground in a grid , or squares 1 meter long and 1 meter wide. The grid helps archaeologists measure where they are excavating and where they will find artifacts.
		They begin to dig carefully and slowly, using small tools like trowels, brushes, and picks. Care is taken so no found materials are broken or mistakenly discarded.
They use the transit again to measure the location of the ground level and where each artifact is found. They must keep the ground flat as they excavate to avoid missing any objects and to keep correct measurements. Each level must be fully excavated and kept flat before digging further.
		Important: Recording! Maps,drawings, and photographs are made of the sites and artifacts found. It is very important to record all the information possible. Archaeology destroys a site, so whatever is removed from a site can never be replaced. Information must be recorded before an artifact and its surroundings are disturbed. When accurate records are kept, archaeologists will be able to study the site even if they were not present during the excavation. Everything about an artifact is a clue to the culture that produced it. So, where an artifact is found at the site, where it was found in relation to other objects, and how deeply it was found in the ground, reveal how the people who were once there lived, worked, and interacted.
After all the information is recorded about the exact spot where an artifact was found, the object can be removed from the ground, bagged, and labeled. All the sediment, or dirt, removed in each level is bagged, labeled and taken to a waterscreen.