What is the name of the excavation? Archaeological excavations: locations. Where are excavations taking place in Russia? See what “Excavations” are in other dictionaries

Who are searchers, treasure hunters, archaeologists, black archaeologists, trackers and others. Let's look at the names and clans of search engines.

IN lately The topic of excavations and searches with metal detectors has become increasingly widespread. On television every now and then there are reports about search engines, black archaeologists and others. But they do not always objectively reflect reality. There is also a lot of information on the Internet, on forums and news sites. They also don’t always clearly name a person with a metal detector in his hand.

In this article, we will briefly describe our view of the situation from within the search engine community.

White archaeologists

Official archaeologists carrying out scientific activities and conducting official excavations. These are professional scientists who study history through artifacts and through detailed excavations that provide a wealth of information. After all, we know much of the history of events thanks to the work of archaeologists. Their story is not fake or made up, they opened it with their own hands for all of us.

Black archaeologists

Black archaeologists are sometimes called all people with metal detectors, but this is not entirely true. In our understanding, “black archaeologists” are people who conduct barbaric excavations of historical sites that are monuments of history and archeology, violating and destroying them. And in fact, it doesn’t matter whether this person has a metal detector or whether a shovel and a pickaxe is enough for him. It is also worth mentioning that some people call “black archaeologists” people from official archeology, but those who conduct illegal excavations, taking advantage of their official position, and also often sell official finds from excavations on the black market. Unfortunately, there are such people too, not many, but they do exist. Fortunately, the majority of noble real archaeologists! And the barbarians who go to dig a monument are simply “barbarians” in Africa too.

Black Diggers

Often intertwined with “black archaeologists”. These are “amateurs” who violate historical monuments and conduct searches at archaeological sites. Their goal is to profit from their finds. The media often generalizes all amateurs into this one unpleasant group, but believe me, this is not really true. Most search enthusiasts do not carry out barbaric excavations of monuments and do not earn millions from their finds, as many will think after watching the next report on TV. There are not many black diggers; in our hobby there are more ordinary people who are passionate about the process of searching with a metal detector, who avoid archaeological sites and dig in ordinary fields, on the sites of old villages.

Black Rangers

Search engines that search by military themes. They are looking for them at the battlefields. But this is not about everyone who is passionate and not indifferent to past war stories. Everything in this group involves weapons. People from this group often illegally “play” with found ammunition and weapons, which can result in legal punishment. Any ammunition and weapons found must be handed over to the police or the authorities must be informed about their discovery for the safe destruction of the ammunition. Many people die due to explosions from rusty bombs and grenades. We strongly recommend that you treat accidentally discovered ammunition with caution and strictly follow the letter of the law.

Search teams

These are true patriots and they are driven by noble motives. They conduct excavations at battle sites (WWII, etc.), search for and try to establish the identities of the soldiers who died many years ago, our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, bury them with honors, and preserve information for history. Their actions are selfless and noble. Their finds (with the exception of ammunition, they are destroyed) are restored and placed in military museums. They often lead entire expeditions. The state has recently been trying to help them. But nevertheless, they often do their noble work with their own money.

Search engines

Search engines with metal detectors are ordinary people, passionate about this hobby. They search for coins, old objects left in places where villages once existed, treasures, gold jewelry, etc. This is a fascinating hobby that wins the hearts and souls of many people. It's enough to try once. Real search engines respect archeology and history and never destroy monuments. They mainly search in ordinary fields, in places where villages used to stand, there were fairs, or simply on old roads.

Search engines can also be divided by type of search into:
Beachgoers- people keen on searching for gold jewelry lost while swimming and relaxing near the water.
Treasure hunters- enthusiastically and purposefully search for treasures, studying this particular topic, collecting data on who and where could have buried the treasure, collecting and checking legends. And luck often smiles on them in the form of a box of coins, for example from the 17th-19th centuries.
Digging in WWII- fans of searching on military topics, often part of search teams.
Just search engines- These are universal search engines that conduct a variety of searches from coins to gold jewelry. You can search for a lot. You can simply look for all the ancient objects in your native village, even on your own site, you can look for fair places where there are a lot of coins, you can look for villages that disappeared in the 18-19th century with their way of life, you can just look for places where interesting events took place a hundred or two hundred years ago.

This is how a huge search community is formed, from archaeologists to amateurs who are not indifferent to history and finds. Collections are being created and museums are being replenished. History is recreated and random but amazing things are found!

It is enough to pick up a metal detector and a shovel, decide on the place and purpose of the search, and believe me, you will not remain indifferent. The main thing is to follow the law and not destroy historical monuments, and when interesting objects are discovered, report information to local historians and archaeologists for research.

We wish you successful finds, treasures, discoveries and good mood from searching with a metal detector! After all, the main thing in our hobby is the pleasure from the search process itself!

Process archaeological excavations

Archaeological excavation is an extremely precise and usually slow-moving process, more than simple digging. The true mechanics of archaeological excavations are best learned in the field. There is an art in the mastery of a spatula, brush and other devices when cleaning archaeological layers. Cleaning layers exposed in a trench requires a keen eye for changing soil color and texture, especially when excavating post holes and other objects; several hours practical work are worth thousands of words of instructions.

The excavator's goal is to explain the origin of each layer and object discovered at a site, whether it is natural or man-made. It is not enough to simply excavate and describe a monument; it is necessary to explain how it was formed. This is achieved by removing and fixing the overlapping layers of the monument one by one.

The basic approach to excavating any site involves one of two main methods, although they are both used on the same site.

Excavations through layers visible to the eye. This method consists of separately removing each layer that is fixed by the eye (Fig. 9.10). This slow method is commonly used at cave sites, which often have complex stratigraphy, as well as at open sites such as buffalo slaughter sites on the North American plains. There it is quite easy to identify layers of bones and other levels at the preliminary stage: test stratigraphic pits.

Rice. 9.10. General view of the main section at Cuello, a stratified Maya site in Belize. Identified layers are marked with tags

Excavations in arbitrary layers. IN in this case the soil is removed in standard sized layers, their size depending on the nature of the monument, usually from 5 to 20 centimeters. This approach is used in cases where the stratigraphy is poorly distinguishable or when layers of settlement are moving. Each layer is carefully sifted for artifacts, animal bones, seeds and other small objects.

Of course, ideally one would like to excavate each site in accordance with its natural stratigraphic layers, but in many cases, as in the excavations of coastal California shell middens and some large residential mounds, it is simply impossible to discern the natural layers, if they ever existed at all. existed. Often the layers are too thin or too caked to form discrete layers, especially when they are mixed by wind or compacted by later settlement or livestock. I (Fagan) excavated a number of African agricultural settlements at a depth of up to 3.6 meters, which were logical to excavate in selective layers, since the few visible layers of settlement were marked by a concentration of fragments of the walls of collapsed houses. Most of the layers contained fragments of pots, occasionally other artifacts, and many fragments of animal bones.

Where to dig

Any archaeological excavation begins with a thorough study of the surface and drawing up an accurate topographic map of the site. Then a mesh is applied to the monument. Surface surveys and the collection of artifacts collected during this time help develop working hypotheses that form the basis for archaeologists deciding where to dig.

The first decision to be made is whether to undertake a complete excavation or a selective one. It depends on the size of the monument, the inevitability of its destruction, on the hypotheses that will be tested, as well as on the available money and time. Most excavations are selective. In this case, the question arises about the areas that should be excavated. The choice may be simple and obvious, or it may be based on complex premises. It is clear that selective excavations to determine the age of one of the Stonehenge structures (see Fig. 2.2) were carried out at its foot. But excavation sites for a shell midden that does not have surface features will be determined by selecting random grid squares on which to search for artifacts.

In many cases, the choice of excavation may or may not be obvious. When excavating the Maya ritual center at Tikal (see Figure 15.2), archaeologists wanted to learn as much as possible about the hundreds of mounds located around the main ritual sites (Coe - Soe, 2002). These mounds stretched for 10 kilometers from the center of the site at Tikal and were identified along four carefully studied strips of protruding earth. It was obviously not possible to excavate every mound and identified structure, so a test trench excavation program was set up to collect random dateable ceramic samples to determine the chronological span of the site. Through a well-designed sampling strategy, the researchers were able to select about a hundred mounds for excavation and obtain the data they were looking for.

The choice of where to dig may be determined by considerations of logic (for example, access to a trench can be a problem in small caves), available funds and time, or, unfortunately, the inevitability of destruction of part of the monument located close to the site of industrial activity or construction. Ideally, excavations should be carried out where the results will be maximized and the chances of obtaining the data necessary to test working hypotheses are best.

Stratigraphy and sections

We already briefly touched on the issue of archaeological stratigraphy in Chapter 7, where it was said that the basis of all excavations is a properly recorded and interpreted stratigraphic profile (R. Wheeler, 1954). A cross-section of the site provides a picture of accumulated soils and habitat layers that represent ancient and modern history terrain. Obviously, a person recording stratigraphy needs to know as much as possible about the history of the natural processes to which the monument was subjected, and about the formation of the monument itself (Stein, 1987, 1992). The soils covering archaeological remains underwent transformations that radically affected how artifacts were preserved and how they moved through the soil. Burrowing animals, subsequent human activity, erosion, and grazing livestock all significantly alter the overlapping layers (Schiffer 1987).

Archaeological stratigraphy is usually much more complex than geological strata, since the observed phenomena are more local in nature and the intensity of human activity is very large and often involves constant reuse of the same area (Villa and Courtin, 1983) . Successive activities can radically change the context of artifacts, structures, and other finds. A site settlement may be leveled and then reoccupied by another community, which will dig deeper into the foundations of its buildings and sometimes reuse building materials from previous occupants. Pillar holes and storage pits, as well as burials, go deep into older layers. Their presence can only be detected by changes in soil color or by the artifacts they contain.

These are some of the factors that should be taken into account when interpreting stratigraphy (E. C. Harris and others, 1993).

Past human activity when the site was occupied and its consequences, if any, for earlier stages of occupation.

Human activities include plowing and industrial activity following the site's last occupancy (Wood and Johnson 1978).

Natural processes of sedimentation and erosion during prehistoric occupation. Monument caves were often abandoned by occupants when the walls were destroyed by frost and pieces of rock fell inward (Courty and others, 1993).

Natural phenomena that changed the stratigraphy of the site after it was abandoned (floods, rooting of trees, burrowing animals).

Interpretation of archaeological stratigraphy involves reconstructing the strata history of a site and subsequent analysis of the significance of observed natural and settlement strata. Such an analysis means separating the types of human activity; separation of layers resulting from the accumulation of debris, construction residues and consequences, storage trenches and other objects; separation of natural and human-caused effects.

Philip Barker, an English archaeologist and excavation specialist, is a proponent of combined horizontal and vertical excavations to record archaeological stratigraphy (Fig. 9.11). He pointed out that a vertical profile (section) gives a stratigraphic view only in the vertical plane (1995). Many important objects appear in cross-section as a thin line and can only be deciphered in the horizontal plane. The main task of a stratigraphic profile (section) is to record information for posterity, so that subsequent researchers have an accurate impression of how it (the profile) was formed. Since stratigraphy demonstrates the relationships between monuments and structures, artifacts, and natural layers, Barker preferred cumulative recording of stratigraphy, which allows the archaeologist to simultaneously record layers in section and in plan. Such fixation requires particularly skillful excavations. Various modifications of this method are used both in Europe and North America.

Rice. 9.11. Three-dimensional stratigraphic profile (section) of the Devil's Mouse monument in Texas, Armistad Reservoir. Complex layers are correlated from one excavation to another

All archaeological stratigraphy is three-dimensional; we can say that it includes the results of observations in both the vertical and horizontal planes (Fig. 9.12). The ultimate goal of an archaeological excavation is to record three-dimensional relationships at a site, as these relationships provide precise location.

Rice. 9.12. 3D fixation in the traditional way(up). Using a measuring square (below). Close-up view of the square from above. Horizontal measurements are taken along the edge (trench), perpendicular to the line of network poles; vertical measurement is carried out using a vertical plumb line. Electronic devices are now commonly used for 3D capture.

Capturing data

Archaeological recording falls into three broad categories: written materials, photographs and digital images, and field drawings. Computer files are an important part of record keeping.

Written materials. During excavations, the archaeologist accumulates working notebooks, including monument diaries and diaries. A monument diary is a document in which the archaeologist records all events at the monument - the amount of work done, daily work schedules, the number of workers in excavation groups and any other labor issues. All dimensions and other information are also recorded. A site diary refers to a complete account of all events and activities at the excavation site. More than just a tool to aid the archaeologist's failing memory, it is a document of the excavation for future generations of explorers who may return to the site to add to the collection of the original finds. Therefore, reports on the monument must be kept in digital form, and if in writing, then on paper, which can be stored in archives for a long time. A clear distinction is made between observations and interpretations. Any interpretations or thoughts on them, even those that are discarded after consideration, are carefully recorded in the diary, whether it is regular or digital. Important finds and stratigraphic details are carefully recorded, as well as apparently minor information that may later prove vital in the laboratory.

Monument plans. Monument plans range from simple outline plans drawn up for burial mounds or landfills, to complex plans for an entire city or complex sequence of buildings (Barker, 1995). Accurate plans are very important, since they record not only the objects of the monument, but also the pre-excavation measuring grid system, which is needed to establish the general layout of the trenches. Computer programs for mapping, being in the hands of specialists, greatly facilitated the production of accurate maps. For example, using AutoCad, Douglas Gann (1994) produced a three-dimensional map of the Homolyovi pueblo near Winslow, Arizona, which is a more vivid reconstruction of the 150-room settlement than its two-dimensional map. Computer animation allows anyone unfamiliar with the monument to vividly imagine what it was like in reality.

Stratigraphic drawings can be drawn in a vertical plane or can be drawn axonometrically using axes. Any type of stratigraphic drawing (report) is highly complex and requires not only drafting skills, but also significant interpretive abilities. The complexity of fixation depends on the complexity of the site and its stratigraphic conditions. Often different layers of habitat or some geological phenomena are clearly marked on stratigraphic sections. At other sites, the layers can be much more complex and less pronounced, especially in dry climates when the aridity of the soil makes the colors faded. Some archaeologists have used scaled photographs or survey tools to document sections, the latter being absolutely necessary for large sections such as those through city ramparts.

3D fixation. Three-dimensional recording is the recording of artifacts and structures in time and space. The location of archaeological finds is fixed relative to the monument grid. Three-dimensional fixation is carried out using electronic devices or tape measures with a plumb line. It is especially important at sites where artifacts are recorded in their original position, or where specific periods in the construction of a building are selected.

New technologies allow for greater accuracy in three-dimensional fixation. The use of theodolites with laser beams can dramatically reduce the fixation time. Many excavators use devices and software that instantly convert their digital recordings into contour plans or three-dimensional representations. They can almost instantly display the distributions of individually plotted artifacts. Such data can even be used when planning excavations for the next day.

MONUMENTS

TUNNELS IN COPANA, HONDURAS

Digging tunnels rarely happens in archaeological excavation practice. The exception is such structures as the Mayan pyramids, where their history can only be deciphered with the help of tunnels, since otherwise it is impossible to get inside. The extremely expensive and slow process of creating tunnels also creates difficulties in interpreting the stratigraphic layers that exist on each side of the trench.

The longest modern tunnel was used to study the series of successive Maya temples that make up the great Acropolis at Copan (Fig. 9.13) (Fash, 1991). At this point, excavators created a tunnel in the eroded slope of the pyramid, undermined by the nearby Rio Copan River. In their work, they were guided by deciphered Mayan symbols (glyphs), according to which this political and religious center dates back to the period from 420 to 820 AD. e. Archaeologists followed ancient squares and other objects buried under a compressed layer of earth and stone. They used computer survey stations to create three-dimensional presentations of changing building plans.

The Mayan rulers had a passion for commemorating their architectural achievements and the rituals that accompanied them with elaborate symbols. The tunnel's creators had a valuable reference in the inscription on a ritual altar called the "Altar of Q", which gave a textual indication of the ruling dynasty in Copan, provided by the 16th ruler Yax Pek. The symbols on the "Altar of Q" speak of the arrival of the founder of Kinik Yak Kyuk Mo in 426 AD. e. and depict the subsequent rulers who adorned and contributed to the growth of the great city.

Fortunately for archaeologists, the Acropolis is a compact royal area, which has made deciphering the sequence of buildings and rulers relatively easy. As a result of this project, individual buildings were correlated with the 16 rulers of Copan. The earliest structure dates back to the reign of the second ruler of Copan. In general, buildings are divided into separate political, ritual and residential complexes. By 540 AD. e. these complexes were united into a single Acropolis. It took years of tunneling and stratigraphic analysis to unravel the complex history of all the destroyed buildings. Today we know that the development of the Acropolis began with a small stone structure decorated with colorful frescoes. This may have been the residence of the founder of Kinik Yak Kyuk Mo himself. His followers changed the ritual complex beyond recognition.

The Acropolis of Copan is an extraordinary chronicle of Mayan kingship and dynastic politics that had deep and complex roots. spiritual world, opened when decrypting symbols. It is also a triumph of careful excavation and stratigraphic interpretation under very difficult conditions.

Rice. 9.13. Artistic reconstruction central region in Copan, Honduras, made by artist Tatyana Prokuryakova

The entire fixation process is based on grids, units, shapes and labels. Monument grids are usually broken using painted stakes and ropes stretched over trenches if fixation is necessary. For fine-scale capture of complex features, even finer grids can be used that cover just one square of the overall grid.

At Boomplaas Cave in South Africa, Hilary Deacon used a precision grid laid down from the cave roof to record the positions of small artefacts, objects and environmental data (Figure 9.14). Similar grids have been erected over maritime disaster sites in the Mediterranean (Bass, 1966), although laser fixation is gradually replacing such methods. Different squares in the grid and at monument levels are assigned their own numbers. They make it possible to identify the position of the finds, as well as the basis for their fixation. Labels are attached to each bag or applied to the find itself; they indicate the number of the square, which is also entered in the diary of the monument.

Rice. 9.14. A pedantic fixation on the excavations at Boomplaas Cave in South Africa, where researchers uncovered dozens of tiny layers of habitat and fragile data on conditions environment related to stone age. During excavations, thin layers of sediment were moved, and the position of individual artifacts was recorded using a net suspended from the ceiling of the cave

Analysis, interpretation and publications

The archaeological excavation process ends with filling the ditches and transporting finds and documents from the site to the laboratory. Archaeologists return with a full report on the excavations and all the information necessary to test the hypotheses that were put forward before going into the field. But the work is far from finished. In fact, it is just beginning. The next step in the research process is to analyze the findings, which will be discussed in Chapters 10–13. Once the analysis is complete, the interpretation of the monument begins (Chapter 3).

Today's cost printed works is very high, so it is impossible to fully publish materials even about a small monument. Fortunately, many data retrieval systems allow information to be stored on CDs and microfilm, so specialists can access it. It is becoming common to post information on the Internet, but here is interesting questions, concerning how permanent cyber archives actually are.

In addition to publishing materials, archaeologists have two important responsibilities. The first is to place the findings and documents in a repository where they will be safe and accessible to subsequent generations. The second is to make research results accessible to both the general public and fellow professionals.

PRACTICE OF ARCHEOLOGY

MAINTENANCE OF DOCUMENTATION AT THE MONUMENT

I (Brian Fagan) keep various notes in my notebooks. The most important are the following.

Daily diary about excavations, which I begin from the moment we arrive at the camp and finish on the day we wrap up the work. This is an ordinary diary in which I write about the progress of the excavations, record general thoughts and impressions, and write about the work in which I was busy. It is also a personal account in which I write about conversations and discussions, and other “human factors” such as disagreements between expedition members on theoretical issues. Such a diary is absolutely invaluable when working in the laboratory and when preparing publications about excavations, since it contains many forgotten details, first impressions, and thoughts that suddenly came to mind that would otherwise be lost. I keep diaries during all my research, as well as simply during visits to monuments. For example, my journal reminded me of details of a visit to a Mayan site in Belize that had escaped my memory.

At Çatalhöyük, archaeologist Iain Hodder asked his colleagues not only to keep diaries, but also to post them on an internal computer network, so that everyone knew what other members of the expedition were talking about, and also to maintain an ongoing discussion about individual trenches, finds and problems of excavations. From my personal experience, I am inclined to think that this is a wonderful way to combine a continuous flow of theoretical discussion with practical excavation and record keeping.

Monument Diary is a formal document that includes the technical details of the excavation. Information about excavations, sampling methods, stratigraphic information, records of unusual finds, main objects - all this is recorded in the diary, among many other things. This is a much more organized document, a real logbook of all the daily activities at the excavation site. The monument's diary is also the starting point of all the monument's documents, and they all refer to each other. I usually use a notepad with insert sheets, then I can insert notes about objects and other important discoveries in the right place. The diary of the monument should be kept on “archival paper”, since it is a long-term document about the expedition.

Logistics diary, as the name implies, this is the document where I record accounts, main addresses, and various information related to the administrative and everyday life of the expedition.

When I started doing archaeology, everyone used pens and paper. Today, many researchers use laptop computers and send their notes to base via modem. Using a computer has its advantages - the ability to instantly duplicate very important information and enter your information into research materials while being directly at the monument. The Çatalhöyük excavation site has its own computer network for the free exchange of information, which was not possible in the days of pens and paper. If I enter my documents into the computer, I make sure to save them every quarter hour or so and print them out at the end of the workday in order to protect myself from a computer crash when the results of many weeks of work can be destroyed within seconds. If I use pen and paper, I make photocopies of all documents as quickly as possible and keep the originals in a safe.