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Information about Archaeological Site

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An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record

Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely, depending on the period studied and the theoretical approach of the archaeologist.

It is almost invariably difficult to delimit a site. It is sometimes taken to indicate a settlement of some sort although the archaeologist must also define the limits of human activity around the settlement. Any episode of deposition such as a hoard or burial can form a site as well. Development-led archaeology undertaken as cultural resources management has the disadvantage (or the benefit) of having its sites defined by the limits of the intended development. Even in this case however, in describing and interpreting the site, the archaeologist will have to look outside the boundaries of the building site.

Traditionally, sites are distinguished by the presence of both artifacts and features. Common features include the remains of hearths and houses. Ecofacts, biological materials (such as bones, scales, and even feces) that are the result of human activity but are not deliberately modified, are also common at many archaeological sites. In the cases of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, a mere scatter of flint flakes will also constitute a site worthy of study. Different archaeologists may see an ancient town, and its nearby cemetery as being two different sites, or as being part of the same wider site. The precepts of landscape archaeology attempt to see each discrete unit of human activity in the context of the wider environment, further distorting the concept of the site as a demarcated area. Furthermore, geoarchaeologists or environmental archaeologists would also consider a sequence of natural geological or organic deposition, in the absence of human activity, to constitute a site worthy of study.

Archaeological sites usually form through human-related processes but can be subject to natural, post-depositional factors. Cultural remnants which have been buried by sediments are in many environments more likely to be preserved than exposed cultural remnants. Natural actions resulting in sediment being deposited include alluvial (water-related) or aeolian (wind-related) natural processes. In jungles and other areas of lush plant growth, decomposed vegetative sediment can result in layers of soil deposited over remains. Colluviation, the burial of a site by sediments moved by gravity (called hillwash) can also happen at sites on slopes. Human activities (both deliberate and incidental) also often bury sites. It is common in many cultures for newer structures to be built atop the remains of older ones. Urban archaeology has developed especially to deal with these sorts of site.

Many sites are the subject of ongoing excavation or investigation. Note the difference between archaeological sites and archaeological discoveries.
Enlarge picture
Archeological site of Castle of Silves

External Links

Lists of sites

Lists of archeological sites around the world can be found at:

Further reading

Dunnell, Robert C., and William S. Dancey, 1983 The Siteless Survey: A Regional Scale Data Collection Strategy, in Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 6:267-287. M.B. Schiffer, ed.
Prehistory (Latin, præ = before Greek, ιστορία = history) is a term often used to describe the period before written history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique
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Recorded history can be defined as history that has been written down or recorded by the use of language, whereas history is a more general term referring simply to information about the past.[1] It starts in the 4th millennium BC, with the invention of writing.
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Contemporary can mean:
  • In its generic sense, living, occurring, or existing, at the same time; often also used as a synonym for "modern"
  • Contemporary, an art magazine
  • Contemporary Records, a record label
  • Contemporary plc, a software company

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The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past.
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hoard is a collection of artifacts purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by metal-detectorists, members of the
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Burial, also called interment and (when applied to human burial) inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by digging a pit or trench, placing the person or object in it, and replacing the soil.
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Cultural Resources Management (CRM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural resources, such as the arts and heritage. It incorporates Cultural Heritage Management which is concerned with traditional and historic culture and the material culture of archaeology.
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In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as buttons or guns, and items
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Feature in archaeology and especially excavation has several different but allied meanings. A feature is a collection of one or more contexts representing some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical characteristic to it in relation to site stratigraphy.
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In philosophy, sociology and the arts, a biofact is a hybrid between artifact and living being, or between concepts of nature and technology. It was introduced as a neologism in 2001 by the German philosopher Nicole C. Karafyllis and fuses the words artifact and bios.
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Paleolithic is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. It covers virtually all of humanity's time on Earth, extending from 2.5 million years ago, with the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis
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The Mesolithic (Greek mesos=middle and lithos=stone or the 'Middle Stone Age'[1]) was a period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age.
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lithic flake is a thin, sharp fragment of stone that results from the process of lithic reduction. Once the proper tool stone has been selected, a fabricator is used to direct a sharp blow to the surface of the stone.
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Landscape archaeology is a body of method and theory for the study of the material traces of past peoples within the context of their interactions in the wider (typically regional) social and natural environment they inhabited.
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Geoarchaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which uses the techniques and subject matter of geography and other earth sciences to examine topics which inform archaeological knowledge and thought.
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Environmental archaeology is the study of the long-term relationship between humans and their environments. Various sub-disciplines are involved to document and interpret this relationship, including paleoethnobotany, geomorphology, palynology, geophysics, landscape archaeology,
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Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, "to wash against") is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other running water. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand
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Eolian (or aeolian or æolian) processes pertain to the activity of the winds and more specifically, to the winds' ability to shape the surface of the Earth and other planets.
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Colluvium is the name for loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, transported by gravity. The deposits that collect at the foot of a steep slope or cliff are also known by the same name.
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Colluvium is the name for loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, transported by gravity. The deposits that collect at the foot of a steep slope or cliff are also known by the same name.
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Urban archaeology is a sub discipline of archaeology specialising in the material past of towns and cities where long-term human habitation has often left a rich record of the past.

Humans produce waste. Large concentrations of humans produce large concentrations of waste.
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This is a list of notable archaeological sites sorted by country. For one sorted by continent and time period, see the list of archaeological sites sorted by continent and age.

Afghanistan

  • Buddhas of Bamyan
  • Haji Piyada mosque in Balkh

Albania


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This list of archaeological sites is sorted by continent and then by the age of the site. For one sorted by country, see the list of archaeological sites sorted by country.

Europe

Palaeolithic

Lower

  • Barnfield Pit, Kent, Great Britain

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1980 1981 1982 - 1983 - 1984 1985 1986

Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII
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