Fieldwork

This chapter presents archaeology in its most commonly-recognised guise: as a fieldwork discipline, concerning the search for and retrieval of material from the past that is then analysed to create knowledge of that past. The chapter discusses the significance of the elements that go to make up a programme of archaeological fieldwork and the roles it plays in defining the field and the development of individuals as archaeologists. While excavation is well-recognised as the pre-eminent archaeological technique, this chapter also emphasises that archaeologists do more than excavate, discussing the significance of documentary study and survey work. It explores the exploratory nature of archaeology, and how archaeologists as explorers served to assist in European colonisation of others’ territories and spread European ideology about the nation state.