Artifact Analysis
Every artifact recovered during excavation is placed into labeled paper bags with the artifact provenience information. These artifacts are then taken to the lab to be washed and catalogued. Artifacts are counted and weighed by type (lithic, ceramic, faunal, etc.) and based off of where they were recovered at the site (unit, level, area, etc.). This ensures that the artifacts are kept together based on their provenience information for future analyses. All of the counts and weights for the artifacts are kept, so that calculations and comparisons can be made across the site.
Certain diagnostic artifacts, such as decorated ceramics, lithic and faunal tools, and other unique items are classified as ‘TC’ or type-collection artifacts. These are counted, weighed, and bagged separately. This is done to facilitate later research on these diagnostic artifacts.
