survey

Before archaeologists can begin digging, they have to do a survey. Surveys help them find where people lived in the past. They walk across a site to try to detect where remains maybe buried. Sometimes they even survey sites from air planes using aerial photography. This helps them see the site all at once. Once they locate a site, they create a map of the site and decide where to dig.

Image credits: main image, courtesy of Charles Spencer; Chuck Spencer: courtesy of AMNH.