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The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
 to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. In the main it denotes buried remains unearthed during excavation
Excavation

The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning.# Excavation is the best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology....
.

The archaeological record on a specific archaeological site
Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record...
 is sometimes referred to as the archaeological sequence
Sequence (archaeological)

The archaeological sequence or sequence for short, on a specific archaeological site can be defined on two levels of rigour.# Normally it is adequate to equate it to archaeological record....
, or sequence for short.






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The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
 to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. In the main it denotes buried remains unearthed during excavation
Excavation

The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning.# Excavation is the best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology....
.

The archaeological record on a specific archaeological site
Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record...
 is sometimes referred to as the archaeological sequence
Sequence (archaeological)

The archaeological sequence or sequence for short, on a specific archaeological site can be defined on two levels of rigour.# Normally it is adequate to equate it to archaeological record....
, or sequence for short. However, the two terms are not exactly interchangeable as the term archaeological record is more global in its meaning and can be applied to artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)

In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human archaeological culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor....
 and other evidence such as biofact
Biofact (archaeology)

In archaeology, a biofact is an object, found at an archaeological site and carrying archaeological significance, but previously unhanded by humans....
s and manuport
Manuport

In archaeology and anthropology, a manuport is a natural object which has been moved from its original context by human agency but otherwise remains unmodified....
s and their associated
Archaeological association

Association in archaeology has more than one meaning and is confusing to the layman. Archaeology has been critiqued as a soft science with a somewhat poor standardization of terms....
 relationships
Relationship (archaeology)

An archaeological relationship is the position in space and by implication, in time, of an object or Archaeological context with respect to another....
, as well as the stratigraphy of a site; in contrast, the sequence really refers to the timeline, determined by stratigraphy and/or absolute dating
Absolute dating

Absolute dating is the process of determining a specific date for an archaeology or Palaeontology site or artifact. Some archaeologists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies a certainty and precision that is rarely possible in archaeology....
 methods.

Thus the archaeological record consists of both known and unknown archaeological sites, with material preserved in-situ; of conserved material such as artifacts in museums and collections as well as archives of archaeological research and interpretation. Records, and the physical results of experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology

Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses or an interpretation, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or Artifact ....
 also form part of the archaeological record.

See also

  • Archaeological illustration
    Archaeological illustration

    Archaeological Illustration is a form of technical illustration that records material derived from an archaeological context graphically. ...
  • Archaeological field survey
    Archaeological field survey

    Archaeological field survey is the methodological process by which archaeologists collect information about the location, distribution and organisation of past human cultures across a large area ....
  • Archaeological context
    Archaeological context

    In archaeology, not only the context of a discovery is a significant fact, but the formation of the context is as well. An archaeological context is an event in time which has been preserved in the archaeological record....
  • Archaeological plan
    Archaeological plan

    An archaeological plan in an archaeological excavation, is a technical drawing of feature s in the horizontal plane....
  • Archaeological association
    Archaeological association

    Association in archaeology has more than one meaning and is confusing to the layman. Archaeology has been critiqued as a soft science with a somewhat poor standardization of terms....
  • Relationship (archaeology)
    Relationship (archaeology)

    An archaeological relationship is the position in space and by implication, in time, of an object or Archaeological context with respect to another....
  • Cut (archaeology)
    Cut (archaeology)

    In Archaeology and stratification a cut or truncation is a Archaeological context that represents a moment in time when other archaeological deposits were removed for the creation of some Feature such as a ditch or pit....
  • Archaeological section
    Archaeological section

    In archaeology a section is a view in part of the Archaeological record showing it in the vertical plane, as a cross section , and thereby illustrating its profile and stratigraphy....
  • Feature (archaeology)
    Feature (archaeology)

    Feature in archaeology and especially excavation has several different but allied meanings. A feature is a collection of one or more archaeological context representing some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical direction characteristic to it in relation to site stratification ....
  • Single context recording
    Single context recording

    Single context recording was initially developed by Ed Harris and Patrick Ottaway in 1976, from a suggestion by Lawrence Keene. It was further developed by the Department of Urban Archaeology from where it was then exported, in the mid 1980s by Pete Clarke to the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust and Nicky Pierce to the York Archaeological Tru...
  • Harris matrix
    Harris matrix

    The Harris matrix or Winchester seriation diagram is a tool used to depict the temporal succession of archaeological contexts and thus the sequence of deposition on a 'dry land' archaeological site....
  • Excavation
    Excavation

    The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning.# Excavation is the best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology....