22 Excavation sites, artefacts

Dr. P.C. Venkatasubbaiah

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Excavation
3. Artefacts
4. Summary

Learning Outcomes:

After reading this module you will:

•  be introduced to the discipline of archaeology and anthropology and their relationship in view of excavation and material collection;
•  know about excavation and it’s importance in view of anthropological studies through archaeology, the technique of gathering cultural material;
•  learn the methods of excavation and material collection;
•  learn how to record the cultural strata, its importance while dealing an archaeological excavation; and
•  learn how to classify or analyze the material culture for a reasonable inference, report writing for publication.

1. Introduction

Archaeology deal with material culture of past societies through two major techniques, exploration and excavation., whereas, Anthropology share it’s knowledge in interpreting the physical nature of human culture in historical perspective, therefore lies a relationship between them. Human culture is broadly divided into three ages, the stone, bronze and iron, besides being technological stages these have economic and social implications. The first stage of human culture began with stone-tool technology, divided into three cultural periods, ie., Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic-Chalcolithic, involving the manufacture and usage which represent the cultural, economic and social evolution of mankind(Sankalia 1974,1977).The former two represent hunting-gathering economy and the latter a food producing phase followed by iron age culture subsequently progressing towards historical episodes of polity, religion, etc. The Palaeolithic culture is further divided into three sub-periods, namely Lower Palaeolithic or Acheulian culture (50,000 – 100,000 BC), covering the greater part of Ice Age, with stone artefacts made on pebbles, cobbles and other large flakes; Middle Palaeolithic (100,000 – 40,000 BC) of flake-industry and Upper Palaeolithic (40,000 – 10,000 BC), marking the first appearance of Homo Sapiens, the replica of modern man, with blade-burin technology, subsequently succeeded by Mesolithic period(8,000-5000 B.C.),the post-Pleistocene era to early Holocene and Holocene periods based on Microlithic tool-technology succeeded by the establishment of sedentary way of life, the Neolithic Age(C.3000 B.C. to 1100 B.C.), with pecked and ground stone and blade tool-technology but the usage of copper being an internal development designated to as Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultural phase. Excavation and Exploration are the two basic archaeological techniques through several scientific methods in gathering data for the reconstruction of past human societies and their socio-economic and other related aspects, which are dated through relative and absolute dating methods of assessing the physical nature and analysis of organic matter corresponding to calendar years respectively like C-14 dating, K/Ar method, fission track, etc. However, two basic dating methods are followed by archaeologists in a general sense of periodization of cultural evolution namely stratigraphy(the surest method of determining the order of succession of events and cultures in a given site and a major tool for archaeological interpretation) and typological classification of artefacts based on the form, shape and relative antiquity in time and space indicating the diffusion of culture and logical evolution of artefacts known as seriation. The material culture comprised tools and objects of stone or other metals, potsherds, burnt wood, animal bones, human and animal skeletal remains, plant remains, etc., which are transformed from cultural context to archaeological context, as embedded in the cultural strata as layers of occupation the archaeological record and database for archaeologists.

2. Excavation

Excavation follows exploration, a technique of digging, recording and preservation of cultural material recovered from a human settlement for comprehensive understanding and reconstruction of human history on sequential basis. It is aimed at knowing the vertical dimension of human occupation from the beginning upwards; different periods or phases of activities and horizontal dimension of each period comprising the lay-out of a town, house plan, nature of building and associated artefacts for valuable information revealing every inch of human remnant activities. The main feature of an excavation has to be done with utmost care and plan so that every artifact is laid bare and preserved, it’s position in relation to layers of deposit and associated finds to document for further verification; to reveal environmental factors like flora, fauna and remnant soils to get an ecological background and preparation of results for publication.

For a long time excavation was considered merely as a method of antiquity collection but Pitt Rivers in Britain and Petrie in the Near East, emphasized it as context of layers and objects, for a reasonable assessment and support of periods that are laid down in each deposit and their general correlation. The lay-out of trench by peg making is an important first step and the excavator would decide where trench should be laid after a detailed study and observation of site, the human settlement usually called a mound. Different strategies and methods are being adopted with accurate trench system for precise record of all artefacts and structures found in the processes that had undergone to describe their position within a trench and to the pegs that outline the areas and different types of lay-outs as followed, i.e.,1. Sondages or Trial Trenching ( for a view of culture sequence of a site in a short time but not a substitute for a regular excavation); 2. Rectangular Trenching System or Vertical excavation (a regular method with definitive objective); 3.Grid system or Horizontal excavation(a series of squares of uniform size laid-out parallel to the site baseline and datum line) ; 4. Open stripping ( a single operation with out square units and balks to excavate a large area and time) and 5. Quadrant Method ( to excavated a circular burrow, megalithic cairn circle or a stupa). Trenching system or Vertical excavation is popularly known after R.E.M. Wheeler who called it a ‘substantive trenches’ and a ‘regular method’ with definite objective and usefulness when the area is small (Fig. 2 &3).

Archaeological excavations are carried on two basic methods, the Vertical or Rectangular Trenching System and Horizontal excavation or Grid system(Raman 1991), one after the other and in both cases recording of cultural strata gives a comprehensive picture of human occupation in time and space perspectives. Once a site is chosen for excavation it’s superficial surface is divided into a pattern of squares called grids (like superimposing a large graph sheet over a site: Fig. 1) commonly 1 or 2 meters on a side. The soil in each unit or grid is peeled back in layers using a standard mason’s trowel and the artefacts and ecofacts encountered during excavation of a level may left in place and their provenience, the exact horizontal or vertical location) is measured before being removed to laboratory for a more detailed analysis. The actual goal of an excavation is to expose the precise pattern of human occupation and related materials left by people. In fact, the site gets destroyed in the process of excavation but an archaeologist will be able to reconstruct it’s cultural context, associated form of artefacts, ecofacts and features by recording each and every unit. The actual process of excavation is done under a site supervisor and a well trained archaeologist who observes each worker at every dig of 5 to 10 cm. thick deposit at a stretch, preferably a male one with a small pick by dividing the grid into small units accordingly. After that the female workers are assigned to pile up the soil to the centre and search for cultural materials. This method of digging is done subsequently after separating the material as per category and is packed in a cloth bag with a tag writing relevant matter of stratigraphy like date, depth, trench/grid unit number, etc. This material encountered from all trenches is stored at a place called ‘courtyard’ which is a store house for entire excavation in a season. The stratigraphical method implies the recognition of each layer of occupation or natural forms, if any, to determine their sequence, the law of superposition demonstrating the upper layer accumulated later in time than the lower one which in turn should have formed later than the one below it. It proceeds precisely the reverse order of deposition, i.e., the last laid deposit must be removed first and the earlier ones successively until the natural soil is reached. The variation in colour, compactness and composition would be visible in sections. Different kinds of soils, depend on the cause of deposition, natural or human activity like the layers of sand, clay, silt, gravel, can be identified. Sterile layers indicate the discontinuity of occupation due to temporary desertion of the site due to various factors. Stratigraphy not only provides the sequence of cultures but also enable us to arrive at some dates at least in terms of centuries. For example, the excavation at Brahmagiri revealed three cultural periods namely: Period-I, Neolithic culture followed by Period II, Megalithic culture, in turn followed by an Early historic culture. The datable objects in a stratum are known by two terms, 1. terminus postquem (artefacts sealed beneath a floor) and terminus antequem, artefacts found on the floor).

Generally, in vertical or rectangular trenching method, a trench 10ʹ X 8ʹ or 30ʹ X 20ʹ may be laid out, lined with two parallel rows of pegs at every meter interval. The pegs on one side may be numbered as O,I,II,III,IV and so on, whereas the corresponding pegs on the other side as O,I,II,III,IV, etc. If in course of excavation it is felt necessary of the extension of trench backward from zero, the pegs of extended sides can be marked A,B,C,D, on one side and Aʹ,Bʹ,Cʹ,Dʹ, on the other. The pegs should be diagonally planted with a central nail at the top which marks the correct measuring point. The peg line acts as the datum line for all measurements in recording antiquities (Raman 1991). The actual excavation should be done 50 cm. inside the peg line on all sides and so the actual area to be excavated which is marked with the string lines all around. Excavation should not be extended upto the peg line in order to keep the pegs and peg line undisturbed throughout the excavation. The pegline is marked by running string firmly nailed to the ground as it serves as the datum line for all measurements. Leaving a number of intermediary balks at regular intervals after at least every 3 meters helps having proper control over the digging and correlating the stratigraphical sections besides facilitating access to different parts of the trench for the supervisors and laborers.

Recording the artefacts as well as associated features are done by three dimensional measurements: the longitudinal, the horizontal or lateral and the downward or depth, to pinpoint the exact location of each object found in a trench and the stratigraphical position. The longitudinal measurement records the distance along the trench from the nearest peg. Angular measurement is done in such a way that one arm is held along the datum string and the other goes at right angles inside and perpendicular to the object. The vertical or perpendicular line is obtained with the help of plumbob suspended over the object. This provides lateral or inward distance of an object from datum string and the third measurement records the depth of the object from the intersection of inward arm and the vertical plumbob line. The ultimate measurements recorded in an excavation have three dimensions, the longitudinal, horizontal or lateral and the downward or depth. The measurement of each object recorded thus contains details: V. 1.2 X 0.5 X 2.5., the first representing peg number and other three are the measurements (Fig.4).

There are two ways of archaeological investigation in an excavation,

• Grid system, in which a series of squares of uniform size are laid and
• Stripping, the complete area without the aid of square divisions or balks.

The grid divides the total area of the site into a series of exact squares which are parallel to the site, baseline (or latitude) and to the datum line. The surveyor lays out the metric grid parallel to the datum line necessarily oriented to the north-south axis of the site and the size of the squares depends on the depth to be excavated. The squares are separated by balks of uniform width of 50 cm. depending on the nature of the habitation. After the grid is laid out, the peg marking is done accurately for the convenience by means of letters on one direction and by numbers in the other, like A1,A2,A3, or B1,B2,B3.etc., This has a great advantage to expand in any direction without hampering the basic datum line of sections, hence very much convenient to excavate a vast area or a town site and every part of it could be plotted and integrated in an over-all site grid.

The trench system is more suitable for vertical excavation rather than horizontal, and in the words of Wheeler (1949) ‘the vertical excavation alone whilst supply a key to the length of an occupation(Fig.5),can not be expected to reveal, save in the most scrappy fashion, the significant environment, economy, religion, administration’. Through Horizontal excavation, two ways of investigations are followed-one by the grid system (a series of squares of uniform size lay-outs) and the stripping system without the aid of square divisions or balks. The former method is of great advantage that lends itself to expansion in any direction with out hampering the basic datum line of sections, therefore, convenient to excavate a vast area and every part of it by plotting and integrating the over-all site grids. For excavating a circular mound either a barrow or a Megalithic cairn circle or a stupa, the trenches can be laid out in quadrant method introduced by Wheeler, who excavated Megalithic burials at Brahmagiri. Excavation of mud-brick structure is rather difficult, therefore, should be undertaken carefully. Similarly, excavation of a buried town or city is indeed a challenge that demands considerable planning and imagination. Exposing skeletal remains in situ by gentle removal and cleaning of dirt by soft brush and needle followed by photographic documentation to draw an exact position of skeleton as well as grave goods attain importance in view of physical anthropological study.

3. Artefacts:

Artefacts are the tools, weapons, ornaments and the products of man’s skill through which his domestic and other economic pursuits are fulfilled. Artefacts of Stone Age cultures comprise stone tools made on different naturally available raw-materials but from Neolithic period onwards the assemblage of material culture include pottery, beads, terracottas’, stone objects, metal objects and other materials along with animal and plant remains. The assemblage of Lower Palaeolithic culture consists of handaxes, cleavers, picks, polyhedrons, discoids, denticulates, spheroids, notches, flakes, blades, cores, chopper and chopping tools, a variety of scrapers and utilized flakes; the succeeding Middle Palaeolithic culture comprises side scrapers of various types, end scrapers, denticulates, notches, points and borers made from flakes and blades by trimming the edges. These scrapers are believed to have been used for manufacturing wooden tools, weapons and also processing animal hide. Anvils, hammer stones and manuports found at a few sites along with various kinds of flakes, flake-blades, blades, rejuvenation flakes ;chips and flake cores (discoidal, globular, pyramidal and amorphous) and the heavy-duty tools like choppers indicate the admixture of several old and new techniques. The succeeding Upper Palaeolithic culture, characterized by blade and burin tools (Fig.6) and the principal artefacts comprises scrapers (side, convex, notch, end, steep, round, convergent, etc.), flake-blades, blades and cores; backed blade variants (straight back, curved back, backed knives, points, lunates, triangles and trapezes); burins, unifacial, bifacial and tanged points and choppers. Scrapers made on flakes suggest continuity of the middle Paleolithic tradition. The various types of scrapers were probably used for wood and bamboo work. Simple blades and backed blades could have been used as inserts for spear points, arrow points, fishing arrows, barbed fish-hooks, thrusting spears, slicer knives and daggers. The next stage of cultural evolution is Mesolithic period primarily based on microliths, the tiny tools made from microblades of 1 to 5 cm. in length, by blunting one or more sides with steep retouch. The tool typology are backed blades, obliquely truncated blades, points, crescents, triangles and trapezes. These microliths were used as components of spearheads, arrowheads, knives, sickles, harpoons and daggers. They were fitted into grooves in bone, wood and reed shafts and joined together by natural adhesives like gum and resin. The use of bow and arrow for hunting became common in this period which is evident from many rock paintings, either red ochre or bruising. The small bored stones are believed to have been used as weights in digging sticks or as net sinkers. Similarly, shallow querns and grinding stones also occur at several sites. These new technological element led to enhanced efficiency in hunting, gathering and processing of wild plant foods. Heavy duty tools like choppers and core scrapers have been found occasionally at Mesolithic sites. The purpose of overall classified tools during Stone Age depended on shape, size and functions like hunting, butchering and skinning of animals, breaking of bones for extraction of marrow, digging of roots and tubers as part of processing plant foods and making of wooden tools and weapons. The Neolithic culture comprises both edge tools and non-edge tools, technologically known as pecked and ground stone tools and objects; pottery of different fabrics, i.e., red, black, grey, brown, etc., both coarse and fine variety, painted and plain, slipped and unslipped; burnished and unburnished; blade tools, etc.; Copper has to be introduced in the later stage in the form of decorative objects and tools; beads of various size; terracotta objects of animal and human figurines etc. All the material culture continues to appear in all cultural stages along with coins which are useful for dating the site to a particular chronology. While writing the report for publication all the culture materials has to be analyzed statistically in order to get frequency, mode and mean for functional analysis which give insights into the economic strategies of cultural interpretation of past human societies.

Summary:

Excavation is an important technique of studying human past irrespective of its temporal phenomenon by which all means of human activities are known in spatio-temporal perspectives. It involves several steps in order to gather complete information about the past human societies who might have performed various domestic and non-domestic economic activities that became remnant in due course of time available in the form of habitations, otherwise known as ‘Sites’. These sites posses various categories of material culture which delineate the tool-technology, settlement pattern and subsistence pattern that is useful for the reconstruction of past human cultures. In this regard each and every object is defined as an artifact as it is artificially manufactured by man for pursuing his economic as well as other daily activities which may be categorized into tools, objects, articles, weapons, etc.

These man used, utilized material culture can be gathered or collected from excavations in which two methods are followed, i.e., Horizontal and Vertical, the former being to get over all information of a site, whereas, the latter would suffice to know the total cultural deposit of a site, i.e., a verification tool of knowing how many cultural periods might have settled at one place and their specific features. This stratigraphical digging would help the archaeologists to know and record several activities performed at a settlement by the human population and their basic cultural traditions and other developmental efforts. This stratigraphical method would through much light on climatic, economic, religious, art and architectural features embedded at a single site and other information like temporary or permanent nature of site, natural disturbances if any occurred during their stay, etc. The artifacts would throw much light on raw-material availability, composition of raw material, purpose of it’s use, etc.