Abstract

In this lesson plan, students will take on the role of

project managers of an archaeological site. The goal
is to demonstrate to students that there is much
more to archaeology than just excavation and a lot

Introduction to of work occurs before and after digging. They will

learn what archaeology is, how archaeologists learn
about a site before excavation, how to map a site

Archaeology like archaeologists do, and write final reports for

their site.

The Archaeological Process Author

Tristan Harrenstein
http://archaeostein.org
archaeostein@gmail.com

Introduction to Archaeology: The Archaeological Process, by Tristan Harrenstein, is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.
This lesson plan includes:
1 lesson plan, site creation instructions, 1 journal, 4 worksheets (complete and incomplete), 1
unit form, 1 unit form example, 1 final report, 1 final report guide, 1 GPR map, 1
magnetometer map, 1 GPR picture, 1 magnetometer picture, 1 bone page

Timeline
The first day begins with background information, an historical report, and analysis of ground
penetrating radar and magnetometer maps. All of this is then used by the class to create hypotheses
about the site. On the second day, the students will map sections of a mock-up site in groups and
make some basic notes about what was observed during mapping. Lastly, on day three, the class
will receive “expert” reports on their site, and use all of the information and skills from the entire
lesson to write site reports.

• Day 1
o Introduction to archaeology
o Historic research results
o Learning about the ground penetrating radar and magnetometer and how
archaeologists use them
o Hypothesis creation
• Day 2
o Learn what archaeologists need to know for site mapping
o Map units as teams
o Record observations in Journals
• Day 3
o Learn about the experts archaeologists often work with
o Write final reports as teams
o Write the analysis as a class
 Table of Contents
Vocabulary Quick Reference ................................................................................................................ 1
Lesson Plan
Day 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Day 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Day 3 ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Teacher Materials
Day 1
Worksheet #1 ........................................................................................................................... 10
Worksheet #2 ........................................................................................................................... 12
Ground Penetrating Radar Map ............................................................................................... 14
Ground Penetrating Radar Example Picture ............................................................................ 15
Magnetometer Map .................................................................................................................. 16
Magnetometer Example Picture ............................................................................................... 17
Day 2
Bones ....................................................................................................................................... 18
Worksheet #3 ........................................................................................................................... 20
Example Unit Form................................................................................................................... 21
Day 3
Worksheet #4 ........................................................................................................................... 22
Class Materials
Day 1
Archaeology Journal................................................................................................................. 24
Worksheet #1 ........................................................................................................................... 30
Worksheet #2 ........................................................................................................................... 32
Day 2
Worksheet #3 ........................................................................................................................... 34
Unit Form ................................................................................................................................. 35
Day 2
Worksheet #4 ........................................................................................................................... 36
Final Report Guide ................................................................................................................... 38
Final Report.............................................................................................................................. 40
The Archaeological Process Vocabulary

Vocabulary Quick Reference

In order of appearance. All of these words are listed on page 10 of the student’s
journals.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) – A tool used by archaeologists measuring

variations in density and depth underground (the sonar
example is mentioned in the lesson plan).

Magnetometer – A tool used by archaeologists measuring magnetic variation in the

ground.

Anomaly – Something out of the ordinary.

Excavation – The exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains.
Principal Investigator (PI) – The scientist in charge of the project.
Hypothesis (Hypotheses) – A proposed explanation for a phenomenon.
Metric System – A system of measurement based on 10s used by most scientists.
Feature – A special designation describing the location of evidence of human activity
(post holes, fire pits), or a collection of artifacts that describes a specific
activity (brick piers for buildings) or both (the midden and privy in our site).

Northing (N), Easting (E) – Used as (x,y) by archaeologists when mapping sites
and units. Beware potential for confusion as
archaeologists list Northing first and Easting
second so their coordinates are actually (y,x).

Faunal – A term for animal bones.

Cartographer – A mapping specialist.
Geologist – A scientist who studies the formation of rocks.
Geographer – A scientist who studies the Earth’s natural environment and how human
societies interact with it.

Privy – An outhouse.
Midden – A garbage dump.
Zoologist – A scientist who studies animal remains.

1
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

Day 1: Introduction to Archaeology and Site Planning

Objectives
• Learn about what archaeology is.
• Learn about how archaeologists investigate a site before digging.
• Learn about hypothesis creation in science.

Preparation: Assembling Journals

• Print 2-sided
• Fold in half and staple in the middle
• The “Journal” file itself should be on white paper, but colored construction paper
would make a good cover.
• Note: Vocabulary is on page 10; page 11 can be used for any extra notes the
student wishes to take

Teaching Description Timeline

Strategy or
Procedure
Introduction “Introduction to Archaeology” worksheet 6 min
Scenario Use “The Site” worksheet 10 min
Description
Start Journals Fill out page 1 5 min
GPR Exercise Use pages 2 &3 in the journal 6 min
Magnetometer Use pages 4 & 5 in the journal 8 min
Exercise
Hypothesis Use page 6 in the journal 5 min

“The Site” worksheet

• The final question on page 2 of this worksheet is optional.

Ground Penetrating Radar Exercise (GPR)

• YouTube video “What is Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)? And how does it
work?” (recommended from 0:00 to 1:29)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQaRfA7yJ0g
• An image of GPR equipment in use is included.
• Used to create pictures of what is in the ground.
• Works like a bat or dolphin’s sonar, only underground.

1
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

• Crime dramas (like Bones or CSI) often use such technology, though the pictures
in real life are not as clear.
• Signal strength goes red (high), yellow, green, blue, light blue (low).
• A strong result (generally red or yellow) or pattern is called an anomaly.
• Direct their attention towards the strong hits in the SE corner, the denser hits in
the SW, the solitary hit in the middle, and the ring in the NW.
• Have them sketch the anomalies into the space provided in their journals on
page 2.
o Make certain they have a key, scale and north arrow.
• Have the students record their observations on page 3.
o Where did the GPR find something?
Describing the anomalies as NW, SW, etc. is fine
o What might cause these results?
Any ideas work here: wood, a rock, even a tire for the ring.

Magnetometer Exercise (Magnet-o-meter)

• pronounced mag-neh-TOH-meh-ter
• YouTube video “Jimmy’s Magnetometer Lession”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ekmyef5DkM
• An image of magnetometer equipment in use is included.
• Reads magnetic variations caused by objects underground.
o Mostly iron-based metals, but other things can show up in certain
situations.
• Works a little like a metal detector, only it creates a map of what it finds.
• Signal strength goes red (high), yellow, green, blue, light blue (low).
• Some patterns are the same, some are new, and others are missing.
o The line of hits is new, the anomaly in the NW and SW are different, the
anomaly in the SE is only slightly there, and the one in the center is
missing.
• Have them draw a sketch similar to the GPR map in the space on page 4.
o Make certain they have a key, scale and north arrow.
• Have the students record their observations on page 5.
o What new anomalies do you see?
The line of hits running in the NE corner.
o What might cause these anomalies?
Again, any reasonable ideas are appropriate so long as the
material is magnetic.
o What anomalies are missing were on your GPR map?
The anomaly in the SE and the anomaly in the center.
o What might cause these differences?
These anomalies are solid, but not magnetic.

2
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

Creating a Hypothesis
• Definition: A description of what you think will happen based on what you see.
• Important for all science.
• Create several hypotheses as a class.
o Make certain they are testable, a good hypothesis explains how it will be
tested.
o Include a hypothesis based around the gender or age of Paul’s siblings.
I.e. At least one of Paul’s siblings was a girl, this will be shown
through toys a young girl might have.
I.e. The presence of artifacts related to babies will show that one of
Paul’s siblings was an infant.
o A hypothesis based around the economic status of the family is also good.
I.e. The presence of expensive artifacts will show that the Strange
family was wealthy.
o A hypothesis of the anomalies seen in the GPR and Magnetometer is also
an option.
I.e. The line in the magnetometer is a metal pipe, this will be tested
through excavation.
• A brief discussion of what kinds of materials survive (metal, bone, glass, etc.)
and what kinds do not (cloth, hair, paper, some foods, etc.) may be helpful at this
point.
• Have them enter their hypotheses in their journals.

3
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

Day 2: Post Excavation and Data Collection

Objectives:
• Understand the grid numbering system.
• Map individual units.
• Make some observations about units.

Materials Needed:
Two 1 meter long strings with marks every 10cm for each team or two tape
measures per team, string, construction paper, 14 nails, several plastic
containers, paper plates, bowls or cheap terracotta flowerpots, plastic silverware,
several bricks, 1-3 toy parts (doll arm, jacks, marbles, etc.), cardboard.

Preparation: Creating a Site

Cut, tear, or break the plastic containers (representing glass), plates/terracotta
(representing ceramics), and the plastic silverware (representing metal silverware).
Make certain to remove a few pieces from each of these so they are not complete. The
root can be created quickly using cardboard and brown construction paper or large
cardboard tubes. Brown construction paper can be used to mark the wood in Feature 4.
Also, things like tin cans with the label removed and smashed can work well (tin and
aluminum are non-magnetic). Nearly anything you add should be damaged in some
way.
• See “Site Creation Map” on page 5
• Mark off a 3 meter by 3 meter area with string around the outside and make a
grid with the string inside the site.
• The nails, bricks, metal objects, wood and root should be placed fairly accurately.
o The metal objects marked should be silverware, half a scissor or another
large metal object.
o Smaller metal objects (such as fork tangs) can be placed in other locations
marked green or yellow on the magnetometer, but accuracy is less
important for these.
• NO metal goes in Feature 2.
• The soil staining for features is just a guide and does not have to be as accurate.
o This should be represented with dark brown or black construction paper.
• Fragments of glass and ceramics and any other small non-metallic objects can
be placed anywhere in the site but should have a higher concentration in Feature
1 and inside the bricks in Feature 2.
• A few toy parts associated with young children should be placed in the site.

4
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

o Locations are not specific, but places other than Features 1 and 2 are
ideal.
o Cardboard cut in the shape of a young child’s shoe sole should be
included somewhere.
• Print and cut out the bone images included; cut three of these into 3-4 pieces and
scatter them around the site, concentrating in Feature 1.
• Label the features.

Site Creation Map

Feature 2

Feature 4

Feature 3

Feature 1
N
Key: Nail
Metal = 1 meter
Brick
Wood
Root
Soil Stain
(Feature)
FYI:
• Feature 1 is a midden (garbage dump).
• Feature 2 is a brick-lined privy (outhouse).
• (continued next page)

5
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

• Feature 3 is a root (this is not what archaeologists are looking for, but they find
them anyway).
• Feature 4 is a post hole with some of the post.
• The line of nails is from a collapsed wall (the wood often decays, dropping the
nails in place).

Teaching Description Timeline

Strategy or
Procedure
Review History, maps and hypotheses from previous day 5 min
Site Update Use “Site Update” worksheet 7 min
Unit Mapping Use “Unit Form” worksheet 15 min
Journal Write the observations in journals 10 min

Site Update Worksheet

• Page 6 in the journals should be filled out as such.

Unit 7 Unit 8 Unit 9

2N 0E 2N 1E 2N 2E

Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6

1N 0E 1N 1E 1N 2E

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3

0N 0E 0N 1E 0N 2E
N
= 1 meter

6
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

Unit Mapping
• Beware potential for confusion as archaeologists list Northing first and
Easting second so their coordinates are actually (y,x).
• Make teams of three or four students.
• Each team needs two strings with 10cm increments or two tape measures.
• Use the “Unit Form” for this.
o Each square equals 10cm.
• The class needs to use a standard key for their maps.
o See the example “Unit Form” for ideas.
• Have the teams sketch their units into page 7 in their journals.
• When done, fold the edges of the “Unit Form” and tape them together to create a
site map.

Observations
• Depending on the features the group has:
o The magnetometer picked up the metal in Feature 1 (midden) and the
nails.
The nails are in a line.
o The GPR picked up the bricks (Feature 2), the root (Feature 3), Feature 4
(post hole), and a little bit of Feature 1 (midden).
o The magnetometer showed an anomaly in Feature 2 (privy) but no metal
was found.
o Features 1 and 2 had a higher concentration of bone than the rest of the
site.
o Unique artifacts should be noted as well (toys).

7
The Archaeological Process Lesson Plan

Day 3: Experts and Report Writing

Objectives:
• Learn about some of the experts that help archaeologists.
• Write reports for the whole site and individual units.
• Discover if the hypotheses were true, false, or unprovable.

Teaching Description Timeline

Strategy or
Procedure
Review Day 2 review 5 min
Analysis Use “The Expert Report” worksheet 10 min
Guide Review Go over the “Final Report Guide” 5 min
Report Writing Write reports 15 min
Analysis Work on the final analysis section as a class 5 min

Report Writing
• Go over the “Final Report Guide” as a class before starting this lesson.
• Have the unit teams fill out the “Final Report” together.
• Do the analysis section of the “Final Report” as a class.
o Make sure hypotheses are discussed, but unexpected things can be
included.
• Photocopy the “Unit Report” section from each report to assemble a class report.

8
Day 1 Teacher Materials Worksheet #1

Despite what most people think, archaeologists do not study

dinosaurs or look for buried treasure. Archaeologists study people and
cultures that were here before us through what they left behind.

Mostly, people do not throw away useful things, and what

archaeologists generally find is the garbage that people in the past leave
behind.

1) Write down two things you throw away. What might they say about
you?

When archaeologists dig up sites it is called excavation .

Excavating a site is a very slow and careful process and archaeologists
must record everything because once something is dug up, it can never be
excavated again.

2) What kinds of things might archaeologists write down when they

excavate? Examples: depth, coordinates, colors, counts

1
Day 1 Teacher Materials Worksheet #1

Excavation is only part of what archaeologists

must do. The archaeologist in charge must learn as
much as possible about a site before excavation can
begin. After other archaeologists on the team have
excavated the site, this archaeologist must write a
report so other people can learn what they learned
from the excavation.

The archaeologist in charge is called a Principal Investigator

and, just like the principal at your school, he or she is in charge of guiding
all of the archaeologists and staff working on the project.

Over the next three days you are going to be the principal investigator
of a site, and you will have to plan the excavation, analyze what the
archaeologists find, and write a report.

In the space below, imagine the two objects you said you throw away in
question #2 and draw or describe what these objects might look like when
archaeologists find them 100 years from now.

2
Day 1 Teacher Materials Worksheet #2

For our site, your state is building a brand new highway, which is a
very good thing because it will allow people to get to their jobs more
quickly. Unfortunately, this highway is going to go right through an
important archaeological site!
As Principal Investigators, it is our job to learn as much about the
people who lived here as we can, before the new road is built and the site
is destroyed.

By looking at old records we have learned that this was the

homestead of Johnathan and Martha Strange and their 3 children.
The family moved onto the farm in 1928 and we know that the oldest boy,
named Paul , was already 16 at this time. The family finally had to leave
the farm and move to the city in 1933 because of the Great Depression
and the farm has never been lived in since.

1) What year was Paul

born? 1912

2) How old was he when

they left the farm? 21

Unfortunately, we could not find any records talking about Paul’s two
siblings. We do not know what their names were, how old they were, or
even if they were boys or girls! Telling stories about people who are not in
records is one of the coolest things archaeology can do!

1
Day 1 Teacher Materials Worksheet #2

3) What are some things we might find that could tell us if Paul’s siblings
were boys or girls? examples: various toys, articles of clothing
(cloth will have decayed)

4) What might give us some clues about how old Paul’s brothers or
sisters were? examples: toys for young children or babies,
children’s shoes, child-sized tableware

2
Day 1 Teacher Materials Ground Penetrating Radar Map

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Results

Key: Strong

Weak N
1
Day 1 Teacher Materials Ground Penetrating Radar Example Picture

1
Day 1 Teacher Materials Magnetometer Map

Magnetometer Results

Key: Strong

Weak N
1
Day 1 Teacher Materials Magnetometer Map

1
Day 2 Teacher Materials Bones

1
Day 2 Teacher Materials Bones

2
Day 2 Teacher Materials Worksheet #3

Your archaeological team was busy! They have excavated the whole
site, but they ran out of time to map it and they need our help! Before we
can do that though, we need to make certain we know the correct vocabulary
so other archaeologists will understand us.

The first thing we need to know is that, like all scientists,

archaeologists use the metric system when mapping a site. Each
square that you see in the grid is called a unit and
each unit is one meter (m) on a side or 100
centimeters (cm).
1) What is the area (in m) of the whole site? 9m
2) What is the area of one unit (in cm)? 1000cm

Special things in archaeological sites are called features .

Our archaeological crew has marked these for us.
3) How many features do you see? 4
4) Check your journal: Do these features match the anomalies you
drew on your GPR and magnetometer maps? They do

When numbering units archaeologists

start from the southwest corner. Turn to
page 6 in your journals and mark the
southwest corner for the site with a star.
5) Label each unit with its number. No
units should have the same unit number!

Archaeologists also label each unit by the coordinates of its southwest

corner. On page 6 mark the southwest corner for each unit with a dot.
Instead of (X, Y) coordinates archaeologists use Northing (N) for
changes south-north and Easting (E) for changes west-east.
Finish labeling the coordinates for each unit

1
Day 2 Teacher Materials Example Unit Form
Day 3 Teacher Materials Worksheet #4

The road has been built, and the site is now destroyed. I hope you
took good notes, because any information lost is gone forever! Today we
have our final reports to write, and to help us we have several experts who
have looked at our data.

Archaeologists use many experts including soil experts, faunal

(seed and wood) experts, cartographers (mapping specialists),
geologists (rock scientists), geographers , chemists , and
experts on every time period , artifact type and culture
you can imagine!

First, our magnetometer expert has informed us that bricks are

often magnetic . So if the teams who studied Feature 2 noticed that
the magnetometer found an anomaly when there was no metal ,
good job!

Also, our archaeologists have told us that when they were excavating
Feature 2 it didn’t smell very nice. In fact it smelled
like poop and there can be no doubt that this was
the privy (an outdoor bathroom ) for the
Strange family. This may sound gross, but
archaeologists like finding privies because people
often threw garbage in them.
1) Did the teams who looked at Feature 2 notice a higher number of
artifacts than the rest of their unit? I sure hope so.

Our architectural expert told us that when a building falls over

the walls often rot away and the nails that held the boards up are
left in the ground in a line . Could this be the explanation for the line of
nails in our site?

1
Day 3 Teacher Materials Worksheet #4

A midden is what archaeologists call a garbage dump and these

places often have a lot of broken artifacts.
2) Is there any place on the site that might be a midden? Feature 1

Our zooarchaeologist (an archaeologist who

specializes in identifying animal bones ) has told
us that some of the bones found in Feature 1 were from
wild animals and the rest were from sheep . The
sheep bones are the ones that are cut. These were cut
during butchering (like the bone in a T-bone steak)
and these pieces of meat were from the part
of the sheep that was very tough
and didn’t taste very good.

3) Was the Strange family

eating expensive foods? No

4) What does this tell you about how

much money they had? Something
along the line of “They didn’t
have much money.”

Our GPR expert has apologized for Feature 3 which turned out to be
a root . Sometimes archaeologists find things they weren’t looking for. If
another archaeologist saw our GPR map, they might wonder
what happened to that anomaly , so it’s still important to record
things like that.

There is no doubt that Feature 4 is a post hole , luckily with the

post still in it! These can show archaeologists where buildings and
fences used to be, but those have more than one post hole.
5) Why might there be a post hole all by itself? There is no specific
answer for this one.
2
 Archaeology Journal

Name:
Date:
School:
Grade:

1
 Ground Penetrating Radar Notes
Results

Which way is north?

Scale:

Key:

2 11
 Vocabulary Words Ground Penetrating Radar
Observations
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
What anomalies do you see?
Magnetometer
Anomaly
Excavation
Principal Investigator (PI)
Hypothesis (Hypotheses)
Metric System What might cause these
anomalies?
Feature
Northing, Easting
Faunal
Cartographer
Geologist
Geographer
Privy
Midden
Zoologist

10 3
 Magnetometer Results Unit Observations
What features (if any) were in your unit?

Describe a feature (shape, color, artifact types,

groups of artifacts).

How well do the GPR and magnetometer maps

match your unit map?

Which way is north?

Sketch one artifact in your unit and describe it.

Scale:

Key:

9
4
 Unit ___ Map Magnetometer Observations
What new anomalies do you see?
Which ones are missing?

What might cause these anomalies?

What anomalies are missing that were on

your Ground Penetrating Radar map?

Which way is north?

What are the coordinates?
What might cause these differences?
Scale:

Key:

8 5
 Hypotheses Units & Coordinates

Hypothesis #1:

Hypothesis #2:
1N 0E

1 2

0N 0E 0N 1E
Which way is North?

Scale:
Hypothesis #3:

6 7
Worksheet #1 Name____________________________

Despite what most people think, archaeologists do not study

dinosaurs or look for buried treasure. Archaeologists

Mostly, people do not throw away useful things, and what

archaeologists generally find is the garbage that people in the past leave
behind.

3) Write down two things you throw away. What might they say about
you?

When archaeologists dig up sites it is called .

Excavating a site is a very slow and careful process and archaeologists
must record everything because once something is dug up, it can never be
excavated again.

4) What kinds of things might archaeologists write down when they

excavate?

1
Worksheet #1 Name____________________________

Excavation is only part of what archaeologists

must do. The archaeologist in charge must learn as
much as possible about a site before excavation can
begin. After other archaeologists on the team have
excavated the site, this archaeologist must write a
so other people can learn what they learned
from the excavation.

The archaeologist in charge is called a

and, just like the principal at your school, he or she is in charge of guiding
all of the archaeologists and staff working on the project.

Over the next three days you are going to be the principal investigator
of a site, and you will have to plan the excavation, analyze what the
archaeologists find, and write a report.

In the space below, imagine the two objects you said you throw away in
question #2 and draw or describe what these objects might look like when
archaeologists find them 100 years from now.

2
Worksheet #2 Name____________________________

For our site, your state is building a brand new highway, which is a
very good thing because it will allow people to get to their jobs more
quickly. Unfortunately, this highway is going to go right through an
important archaeological site!
As Principal Investigators, it is our job to learn as much about the
people who lived here as we can, before the new road is built and the site
is destroyed.

By looking at old records we have learned that this was the

of Johnathan and Martha and their children.
The family moved onto the farm in and we know that the oldest boy,
named , was already 16 at this time. The family finally had to leave
the farm and move to the city in because of the
and the farm has never been lived in since.

5) What year was Paul

born?

6) How old was he when

they left the farm?

Unfortunately, we could not find any records talking about Paul’s two
siblings. We do not know what their names were, how old they were, or
even if they were boys or girls! Telling stories about people who are not in
records is one of the coolest things archaeology can do!

1
Worksheet #2 Name____________________________

7) What are some things we might find that could tell us if Paul’s siblings
were boys or girls?

8) What might give us some clues about how old Paul’s brothers or
sisters were?

2
Worksheet #3 Name____________________________

Your archaeological team was busy! They have excavated the whole
site, but they ran out of time to map it and they need our help! Before we
can do that though, we need to make certain we know the correct vocabulary
so other archaeologists will understand us.

The first thing we need to know is that, like all scientists,

archaeologists use the system when mapping a site. Each
square that you see in the grid is called a and
each is one (m) on a side or 100
(cm).
1) What is the area (in m) of the whole site?
2) What is the area of one unit (in cm)?

Special things in archaeological sites are called .

Our archaeological crew has marked these for us.
3) How many features do you see?
4) Check your journal: Do these features match the anomalies you
drew on your GPR and magnetometer maps?

When numbering units archaeologists

start from the corner. Turn to
page 6 in your journals and mark the
southwest corner for the site with a star.
5) Label each unit with its number. No
units should have the same unit number!

Archaeologists also label each unit by the coordinates of its southwest

corner. On page 6 mark the southwest corner for each unit with a dot.
Instead of (X, Y) coordinates archaeologists use (N) for
changes south-north and (E) for changes west-east.
Finish labeling the coordinates for each unit.

1
 Unit Form
Mapper Names _____________________________________________________
Date __________ Unit Number ___ Unit Coordinates ___N ___E

Key

Scale
=

(___N ___E) Which way is North?

Features Mapped: ______________________________________

Artifact Types and Counts: ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Worksheet #4 Name____________________________

The road has been built, and the site is now destroyed. I hope you
took good notes, because any information lost is gone forever! Today we
have our final reports to write, and to help us we have several experts who
have looked at our data.

Archaeologists use many experts including experts,

(seed and wood) experts, (mapping specialists),
(rock scientists), , , and
experts on every , , and
you can imagine!

First, our magnetometer expert has informed us that are

often . So if the teams who studied Feature noticed that
the magnetometer found an when there was no ,
good job!

Also, our archaeologists have told us that when they were excavating
Feature it didn’t smell very nice. In fact it smelled
like and there can be no doubt that this was
the (an outdoor ) for the
Strange family. This may sound gross, but
archaeologists like finding privies because people
often threw in them.
6) Did the teams who looked at Feature 2 notice a higher number of
artifacts than the rest of their unit?

Our architectural expert told us that when a falls over

the often rot away and the nails that held the up are
left in the ground in a . Could this be the explanation for the line
of nails in our site?

1
Worksheet #4 Name____________________________

A is what archaeologists call a garbage dump and these

places often have a lot of broken artifacts.
7) Is there any place on the site that might be a midden?

Our (an archaeologist who

specializes in identifying ) has told
us that some of the bones found in Feature were from
animals and the rest were from . The
bones are the ones that are cut. These were cut
during (like the bone in a T-bone steak)
and these pieces of meat were from the part
of the sheep that was very
and didn’t very good.

8) Was the Strange family

eating expensive foods?

9) What does this tell you about how

much money they had?

Our GPR expert has apologized for Feature which turned out to be
a . Sometimes archaeologists find things they weren’t looking for. If
another saw our GPR map, they might wonder
what happened to that , so it’s still important to
things like that.

There is no doubt that Feature 4 is a , luckily with the

post still in it! These can show archaeologists where and
used to be, but those have post hole.
10) Why might there be a post hole all by itself?

2
 It’s time to write our final report! This is a vital part of the archaeological process
because if we don’t tell people what we learned then what was the point of all that
work? Work with your team to write the report.

• First, fill out the cover page.

• Site History
o Write a paragraph on what we learned about the site on the first day.
• GPR Results
o Draw the GPR results and write about them. (Hint: use your archaeology
journal!)
• Magnetometer Results
o Draw the magnetometer results and write
about them.
• Hypotheses
o Hypotheses are so important that other
people will want to know what ours were, so
write down the hypotheses we recorded on the first day.

• Unit Report
o An archaeologist’s final report includes all of the units. Just write about
your unit for now and your teacher can put everyone’s unit sections
together later.
o Use your “Unit Form” from yesterday to map your unit and give some basic
information about it (number, coordinates, etc.)

1
 o Features
Describe the features in your unit like you did on page 9 of your
journal.

o Artifacts
Tell the reader what artifacts were in your unit and draw one in
the box.

o Expert Analysis
Write about what your experts told you about the site (make
sure to include what their specialty is).

• Analysis
o So far you have told your reader what you found, now it’s time to tell them
what you learned!
o Think about your hypotheses
did anything you find suggest they were true
Did anything suggest that they were not true?
Remember, there is nothing wrong with a
hypothesis that turned out to be false! That is
an important part of the scientific process, and
scientists are just as happy to find a false
hypothesis as a true one.

o Did you learn anything that you didn’t expect to?

2
The Strange Family
Homstead
Final Report

by _________________________________________
___________________________________________

Date ______________
School __________________________
Grade _______
Site History
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Ground Penetrating Radar Results

Key

Scale

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

1
Magnetometer Results
Key

Scale

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Hypotheses
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2
Unit Report
Key

Scale
Expert Analysis

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Features
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3
Artifacts
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

Expert Analysis
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

4
Analysis
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5
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