Chronology

Arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred.

The scientific process of cleaning--and often repairing and/or restoring--an
Conservation artifact in order to preserve it for further study and/or display.
Cracking the code; figuring out something's meaning, especially an ancient
Decipher
language (for example, Egyptian hieroglyphics).
The sum of the external conditions and influences which surround an object or
organism -- particularly the ecological and social settings in which people work
Environment and live.
Systematic digging and recording of an archaeological site.
Excavation
A network of uniformly spaced squares that divides a site into units; used to
Grid
measure and record an object's position in space.
The basic vertical subdivision of an excavation unit. May be natural. arbitrary or
Level
contoured.
Matrix
Preserve
Replica
Restoration

The rock or soil material in which fossils or artifacts are found or embedded.
To keep safe and protect from injury, harm, or destruction; to keep alive, intact,
or free from decay; to save from decomposition.
A copy or reproduction of the original.
The process of cleaning and studying an artifact and attempting to return it to
its original form (before it was buried).

A wire mesh mounted on a frame which is used to sift the soil from an
archaeological excavation. The screen may be used manually or shaken by
means of a small motor and serves to catch the specimens which are too small
for the excavator to collect practically. The size of the mesh depends at least
partially on the fineness of the deposits on the site. In Manitoba, sizes from l/l6"
to l/4" are the most common. Experiments have shown that different mesh
sizes produce dramatically different results in the relative frequencies of
Screen
objects of different sizes.
Sherd/Shard The individual pieces of broken pottery vessels.
A distinct spatial clustering of artifacts, features, structures, and organic and
Site
environmental remains. as the residue of human activity.

Survey
Test pit
Transit
Unit

l. the investigation of an area to locate archaeological sites and to acquire a

preliminary understanding of its prehistory. This latter aim is most commonly
achieved by means of surface collecting and the excavation of test pits. 2. to
systematically map and grid an archaeological site. Surveying instruments
such as the transit and the theodolite are generally used.
A unit excavated to determine the presence or absence of an archaeological
site, or the nature of the deposits.
A sophisticated optical surveying instrument similar to an alidade, except that it
is mounted directly on a tripod, rather than resting on a plane
One of the squares excavated on an archaeological site; a pit.
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