ASK THE ARCHAEOLOGIST:
The answers to the most frequently asked questions about archaeology Dave Weldrake Question 4: What sort of tools do you use? The answer is simple: anything from a JCB to a teaspoon and a lot more besides. Lots of people have this impression that archaeologists are always down on their knees doing little fiddly things with trowels. In an ideal world it would be so, but in the real world archaeologists often have to rush because someone is wanting them to finish before they can build a road or a housing estate. In such cases it's important to go as fast as you can without damaging the archaeology. Starting a site might need digging through lots of modern rubble and we'd do that with a JCB. Further on we might use large hand tools such as mattocks and shovels. It's only when we get to the interesting bit that we go very slowly. This is when we begin to use trowels, or brushes to make sure that we recover everything and that no valuable artefact is lost or broken We might even sieve all the soil to make sure that even the tiny finds such as fish bones don't get lost. In small tight holes you might even have to use a teaspoon to get the soil out! Nor is digging the only thing which archaeologists do. Here are just a few of the other jobs which we might be asked to do and some of the tools we might use. Before the excavation
During the excavation
After the excavation
Some useful links Fieldwork - West Yorkshire: Images and Information is a new area from WYAAS. Here you can find brief reports of recent sites and images of people at work to show your pupils. Pack Your Bag is a drag and drop game from Past Explorers (Part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme). Find out what items you should pack to go on your archaeological dig. Other frequently asked questions For more information about our WYAAS Education Services click here |