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<< back to The Archaeology of Missouri
To
Dig or Not to Dig
Is
it Really a Question for an MAS Member?
Greg
Fox
from January–March 1991
MAS Quarterly 8(1):6
Over the past three years I have been approached by numerous MAS members and the public wanting to dig sites. They tell me of this great rock shelter or cave they know of and how much they want to excavate the site. Invariably, they qualify their desire to dig with the statement, I'm going to be real careful, lay out a grid, and dig in levels.
Unfortunately, excavating an archaeological site is much more than being careful, laying out a grid, and digging in levels. It is formal training, classroom instruction, and, most of all, experience under supervision. The excavation of a site does not end with the artifacts coming out of the ground; it ends only after the artifacts, soils, and content undergo analytic scrutiny and interpretation. The end point of an excavation is curation (in perpetuity) of the artifacts, field and laboratory notes, photographs, slides, and analytical reports so that others may use the materials in the comparative process of scientific archaeology.
Many professional archaeologists wish they could do more formal excavating. Most of the work in Missouri today consists of site testing under Federal compliance-related activities. This is not research excavation, it is simply testing to determine if a site has sufficient integrity and cultural materials to determine its eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The only way a site can be determined eligible is if it has sufficient scientific merit, not on the basis of the neat things that were found. All the projectile points in the world could not get a site a determination of eligibility if there are no intact subsurface deposits of cultural materials.
Recently an individual came into the Archaeological Survey of Missouri with materials he/she had recovered from a small test they had put in a rock shelter. There were no notes, there were no photographs, the site had not been recorded and remains unrecorded, and the materials were stored in a cardboard box. There were some nice artifacts in the assemblage, nice if you are only into things. However, charcoal in the collection, given its size and volume, suggested to me that the particular individual had excavated through a hearth. Furthermore, the charcoal was worthless for a radiocarbon date as it had been stored in an organic container.
Most archaeologists understand the desire to excavate sites. In part, it is finding the unknown; in part, it is the discovery of complete artifacts and features and the lure of finding the hidden. Conversely, most archaeologists do not do archaeology for the things, they do it for the understanding of the past. There is a vast difference between love of things and love of learning.
So if you do want to excavate a site, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I have the time to devote to the proper excavation of the site?
- Do I have the knowledge and experience to prepare a site for excavation?
- Do I have the knowledge to recognize and excavate a feature?
- Can I adequately record the field work, pay for film and processing, run a transit/alidade, and do the necessary drafting?
- Can I do the lithic analysis? The ceramic analysis? The invertebrate faunal analysis? The vertebrate faunal analysis? The pollen, phytolith, and botanical analysis?
- Do I have the necessary funds to hire a geomorphologist?
- Do I know how to collect radiocarbon samples? Thermoluminesence samples? Pollen samples? Neutron-activation samples? Soil samples? Flotation samples? Blood residue samples?
- Do I have the necessary technical writing skills to report the excavation and analysis?
- Am I interested in the artifacts, the excavation, and learning about the past?
In the past, numerous MAS members excavated on their own mounds, rock shelters, village sites, and campsites. Although the information they gathered in those excavations is valuable, their methods do not lend themselves to modern analytical techniques. There are a number of ways an individual can satisfy the urge to dig. You can volunteer on a professional excavation. You can take a formal field school or sign up for one of the many cooperative ventures such as EarthWatch or the Andover Foundation activities. You can participate in MAS field exercises. The reality of those situations are that you don't get to keep the artifacts you find. You do, however, get a chance to participate in a scientific excavation, an endeavor in keeping with the goals of the MAS as stated in the by-laws.
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Haney
Last updated December 2006.
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