Archaeological Terms and Archaeological Terms and ToolsTools

By Rebecca Faye Kinley Fraker

Dig

• The site (place) being examined.

Terria

A small, curved hoe-like implement used to put dirt in tubs or buckets.

Guffahs

• A guffah is a bucket made out of old tires.

Sifting boxes

• Sifting boxes have screens of different sizes.

• They are used to separate the dirt from the beads or bones or other artifacts in the soil or sand.

Cairn

• A cairn is a pile of rocks.

• They are used for memorial sites.

• Sometimes they are marking a burial site or where a battle was won or a treasure was hidden.

• Through the years they often get covered by vegetation.

Recesses

• A recess is a hidden, indented area in a cliff or cave or some other structure

Submerged

• “Submerged” means under the water.

Aerial

• Aerial means “up in the air”.

• An aerial view means one taken from far up, usually from a plane or satellite.

• Aerial view of San Francisco

Strata and Stratigraphy

• The different layers of soil and rock at a site are called strata.

• The study and science of these layers is called stratigraphy.

Tell

• A mound, especially in the Middle East, that is made up of different layers of previous settlements.

Trench

• A trench is a ditch.

• Often archaeologists will cut a trench across a site to get an idea of where would be the best place to dig.

Trowels

• A hand instrument that is used for gardening, masonry, and digging in the soil.

Dental picks

• Dental tools and small brushes are often used to do detail work.

Patish

• A simple instrument like a hammer.

• One end has a sharp point and the other a broad sharpened edge.

Useful Websites

• http://www.nexfind.com/lessons/tools.htm

• http://www.nexfind.com/lessons/table%20of%20contents.htm

• http://www.kamalii.k12.hi.us/Kukuipuka/Archeology_Tools.html

Remains

• The remains can be various kinds of artifacts such as stone hammers, stone ornaments and fragments of pottery basin, or features like houses, forts and graves.

Picks and Mattocks