Answers to Questions - The Bible and Archaeology

How is modern archaeology conducted?

This would take a four-year college curriculum to fully teach, but briefly…

SURVEY is all of the pre-excavation research.

• Surface survey is the superficial inspection of the area (fieldwalking).

• Finds are recorded and plotted on a computer-generated topographical map.

• Technical studies add info—satellite and infrared photos, magnetometry, etc.

• Library and active research reveals old maps, history, previous excavations.

• Site maps are the result of survey. They show best potential sites of concentration.

EXCAVATION can be exciting but also very tedious and boring.

• The site plan determines a datum point to plot a surveyor’s reference grid.

• The excavation plan plots specific baulks or trenches to be dug, designates people.

• The digging process: Careful peeling away layers with shovel, trowel, brush. All dirt is sieved. Meticulous recording (photo & sketch) of finds plus location in horizontal and vertical references. Finds then labeled before removal. On-site analysis includes many scientific fields including chemists, biologists, Ceramics, architecture and paleography specialists to name only a few. Publishing of results. This is time consuming and lacking from many sites.

SITE ANALYSIS: is the ongoing laboratory work long after the digging is done.

• It is the extension of the fieldwork and, again, draws from a wide array of fields.

• Taxonomy is classification by physical characteristics (groupings).

• Typology is comparative taxonomy: descriptive, chronological, functional, stylistic.

Specific types of finds most often used for analysis in Israel:

• Architecture: fortifications, gates, houses, building materials.

• Pottery: characteristic form and function, surface design.

• Paleography: age and style of writing, content.

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