Archaeological Investigation

463 Pages·2010·18.96 MB·English

by  Martin Carver

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AARRCCHHAAEEOOLLOOGGIICCAALL
IINNVVEESSTTIIGGAATTIIOONN
Martin Carver
Drawing its numerous examples from around the world, Archaeological Investigation
explores the procedures used in field archaeology travelling over the whole process
from discovery to publication.
Divided into four parts, it argues for a set of principles in Part 1, describes work in
the field in Part 2 and how to write up in Part 3. Part 4 describes the modern world
in which all types of archaeologist operate, academic and professional. The central
chapter ‘Projects galore’ takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through different kinds
of investigation including in caves, gravel quarries, towns, historic buildings and
underwater.
Archaeological Investigation intends to be a companion for a newcomer to profes-
sional archaeology – from a student introduction (Part 1), to first practical work (Part
2), to the first responsibilities for producing reports (Part 3), and in Part 4 to the tasks
of project design and heritage curation that provide the meat and drink of the fully
fledged professional.
The book also proposes new ways of doing things, tried out over the author’s thirty
years in the field and here brought together for the first time. This is no plodding
manual but an inspiring, provocative, informative and entertaining book, urging that
archaeological investigation is one of the most important things society does.
Martin Carver specialises in the archaeology of early Medieval Europe and field
archaeology in all periods. He was a freelance archaeologist from 1972 until 1986,
when he was appointed professor and head of department at the University of York.
Since 2003 he has been editor of the journal Antiquity.
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AARRCCHHAAEEOOLLOOGGIICCAALL
IINNVVEESSTTIIGGAATTIIOONN
Martin Carver
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First published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 Martin Carver
Typeset in Folio by
Keystroke, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
MPG Books Group Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–48918–8 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–48919–5 (pbk)
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To my friends pictured within.
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TTAABBLLEE OOFF
CCOONNTTEENNTTSS
List of illustrations xiii
Acknowledgements and picture credits xxxiii
Preface xxxvii
PART 1: PRINCIPLES 1
How archaeological fieldwork relates to theory and the society in which it is practised. The
demands of research, the needs of conservation and the rights of stakeholders – and how
these can be reconciled.
Chapter 1: The stuff 3
A prodigious variety 3
Methods of study 7
Defining archaeological strata 15
Archaeological vocabulary 19
Conclusion 22
Chapter 2: Approaches 25
What do we want from fieldwork? 25
Empirical to reflexive: five approaches 27
Evaluative archaeology 32
Field Research Procedure 35
Chapter 3: Field Research Procedure: a framework 39
A value-led project: the Sutton Hoo burial ground 39
Stage 1 Reconnaissance 41
Stage 2 Evaluation 41
Stage 3 Project design 48
vii
CONTENTS
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Stage 4 Field investigation 52
Stage 5 Analysis 55
Stage 6 Publication 57
Reflection 57
PART 2: IN THE FIELD 61
Here I review techniques and their applications for five principal types of field operation.
Chapter 4: Landscape survey 63
First day in the field 63
Techniques 65
Applications 73
In sum... 86
Chapter 5: Site survey 89
Looking at sites 89
Techniques 89
Applications 102
In sum... 109
Chapter 6: Excavation 113
First day on a dig 113
On method: three ways of dissecting strata 117
On procedure: Recovery Levels 124
Recording 138
The course of an excavation 146
In sum... 148
Chapter 7: Projects galore: Integrated Field Research 151
A cave site in Greece 152
A shell mound in Kentucky 154
On the gravels: a timber palace in Northern England 156
On the sand: a Neolithic village by the Seine 159
A turf hall in Norway 161
A stone fort in Sweden 164
A tell site in Syria 165
A terp site in Holland 167
A Maya ruin in Belize 170
viii
CONTENTS
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Getting wet 184
In a shallow Alpine lake 185
Diving deep off Turkey 188
A villa by the Adriatic 171
Tomb tableaux in China 173
Studying standing structures 174
Urban archaeology 179
Getting wet: in Florida, France and Turkey 184
In sum... 191
PART 3: WRITING UP 195
This shows how the records gathered in the field are studied and reported to researchers,
to clients and to the public.
Chapter 8: Analysis 197
The tasks: manage, assess and analyse 197
The analytical programme 202
Case study: Saddler Street, Durham 205
Conclusion 215
Chapter 9: Assemblage 217
Retrieval 217
Analysis 224
Artefacts 225
Biological (biota) samples 231
Interpreting site assemblages 238
Chapter 10: Space 245
Scales of space 245
Spatial patterns from excavation 246
Plotting objects 247
Mapping features and structures 250
Spatial patterns from site survey 252
Spatial patterns in the landscape 256
Pattern-seeking by computation 258
Chapter 11: Chronology 267
The business of chronology 267
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CONTENTS