What do archaeologists use

A wide range of tools are used at an archaeological site, some of which may be very familiar and others which are more specialized. Below are images and descriptions of just a few of the types of equipment you will see if you visit New Philadelphia during the field season! For archaeology, the trowel is probably the most iconic and most-often used tool.

It is the same tool that masons use to apply mortar to brick walls, though in archaeology it is used to excavate in a unit when the space no longer allows for the use of a shovel. There is a long-standing but usually good-natured debate in the archaeology community about whether a pointed or square-ended trowel is better. Opinions vary among the archaeologists at New Philadelphia as well, but it really is all up to the personal preference of the user!

Shovels, either rounded or squared, are used as the primary excavating tool, most especially in units where very few or no features or artifacts are discovered. They are used because they allow for more soil to be moved in a shorter time, as opposed to only ever excavating with trowels. Soil is shoveled either into buckets usually 5-gallon size and then carried to the screen, or is shoveled directly into the screen itself. Screens are used to sift the soil that comes from each unit in order to search for and better spot artifacts.

The most common screen varieties are the tripod and box or personal screen, both of which are used at New Philadelphia. Soil is poured into the screen from either a bucket or a shovel, then shaken back and forth to allow the lighter soil to fall through the screen mesh, while heavier artifacts will stay inside the screen box.

Handbrooms and dustpans are used while excavating a unit in order to more effeciently move the soil out.

Handbrooms help to keep the "floor" of a unit clean, especially before a photograph is taken of it. After digging deeper into what archaeology is last month, you now know that archaeology is the study of human history, prehistory, and past cultures through the excavation of sites and the analysis of material remains.

An artifact is an object that was made or used by a human, while ecofacts are objects that indicate human activity, like an animal bone that has signs that it was used for food. So archaeology is the study of artifacts or material remains that were left behind by previous generations. Artifacts and ecofacts become buried over time, and archaeologists must recover them carefully so that they can be identified and studied.

Shovels, trowels, spades, brushes, sieves, and buckets are some of the more obvious or common tools that an archaeologist may carry with them to most digs. Keep in mind that the tool types used may vary depending on the type of excavation. More delicate excavations can require precision tools, such as blades, dental tools like those picks they use to dig in between your teeth! Excavations that are large may require larger tools like a bulldozer to remove soil that is obstructing the dig site.

The type of soil does also plays a factor in which type of tools will be used for a dig as do the size and location of the site. When surface artifacts are found, flags may be used to mark the spot that they are discovered.

Cameras and photo scales are used to help document the findings. A tool that is universal and probably the most used by archaeologists is a simple pointing trowel. Why do archaeologists dig? Do archaeologists dig up dinosaurs? Do archaeologists dig up a lot of treasure?

What happens to all the stuff archaeologists find? Are they allowed to keep anything? Why is archaeological work being done at Prescot Street? How do I become an archaeologist? Why do environmental archaeologists look at dirt? What happens to the things you find?