Talking about the excavation, you will think about the equipment used. There are many types of excavation that you can find. One of them is excavation in the archaeological sites. In this matter, you will find that there are some types of tools that are used for this needs. But, the equipment used is quite different with the general excavation that you might find. When the archeologist will do the excavation, the equipment used will be determined by the excavation and the soil that will be removed. The followings are some excavation tools that are usually used in the excavation jobs in the archeological sites.
Top Soil Excavation Tools
In the archeological sites, the use of large-scale mechanical equipment like excavator or backhoe is avoided. This is because the use of this equipment might damage an artifact’s provenience which is an area under the surface where the location of the artifact that will be used for study. Thus, the tools that will be used are small-scale mechanical equipment so that it will not create any damage.
Boundary Location Excavation Tools
In order to break up the soil and remove debris and loose dirt from the archeological grid, there are some upright tools that are used. Some of them are spades and showels, mattocks or pickaxes, bucket augers and coal scoop. Spades, shovels bucket and coal scoops are used to remove the fill away. Meanwhile, the mattocks or pickaxes are used to break up any tough clumps and roots or rock-fill. These tools are very useful in helping the archeologist to determine the boundary. In this case, boundary is often determined be the difference of natural subsoil and fill. When the soil is removed, a boundary in the surrounding soil can be identified.
Fine excavation tools
In the archeological excavation, the fine excavation tools might also be used to help the archeologists in doing their jobs. Paintbrushes, scalps, trowels and dental picks are usually used. These tools are used when the an artifact is still embedded in surrounding soil. These tools are the perfect tools to reveal the dimension of an artifact without damaging the artifact.