Archaeological excavations can be research or pre-development, done by hand or machine, and fall into different categories based on the site. Search excavations are preferred, while pre-development digs are rushed. Archaeologists work in various locations and use different tools to recover artifacts or bodies.
The different types of archaeological excavations include research excavations, pre-development excavations, and excavations done by hand or by machine. Research excavations are paid for by academic organizations and private individuals. Development digs are paid for by a developer, and while quite similar to research digs, this type of dig is often rushed. All excavations are also done by hand, machine or both. Furthermore, each excavation falls into a certain category based on the site where it is performed.
Archaeological digs differ in the amount of time an archaeologist has to recover an artifact or body. The preferred type of excavation is called a search excavation. Research digs occur when everyone has enough time and funds to carefully recover all items. These archaeological digs are not rushed, so it can take archaeologists months or even years to fully recover everything from the site.
Another type of excavation is called a pre-development excavation. This type of excavation occurs when a company plans or has already begun construction on the site. The artifact is usually a surprise find, with no one knowing that the site was a cemetery or other site that may have historical significance. In this situation, archaeologists act quickly to recover the artifacts and sometimes bypass construction equipment already in place. This type of excavation is typically paid for by the developing society rather than an academic organization and time is of the essence.
Many archaeologists carry out archaeological excavations by hand using special hand tools. The work can be laborious and often takes a long time to complete. On the other hand, sometimes an archaeologist uses a machine to unearth artifacts, which is a controversial practice. Machines are less precise than humans when it comes to archaeology, so they usually just remove the overhead. Basically, they just dig into areas where there is a lot of soil and other debris covering the object of interest and the machine has little chance of disturbing anything important.
Archaeological digs are done on all different types of places. From cemeteries to causeways and searching for lost bodies or ancient roads, archaeologists work in a wide variety of locations around the world. Excavating a lost body is very different from recovering a religious structure. It may require different tools, take more or less time to complete, and require different experts to decipher the meaning of the items found.
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