How do archaeologists select a particular site to dig?
That depends on the reasons for the excavation. An archaeologist generally look for a site that matches a particular research interest. For example, someone interested in an Indian camp may look along the riverbed; while someone interested in late nineteenth-century history may select an old mining camp or a trash dump full of broken bottles and rusty cans. The place that archaeologists dig is known as a site. It is any place where people have lived or worked in the past and left traces of their activity in the earth. To find a site, archaeologists must first look for one. The easiest way is to interview the people who live in the area. They are a great source of information. It is a rare farmer or rancher who hasn’t picked up arrowheads or other items on his property. The other method is to walk the landscape and keep a sharp eye out for the telltale signs of past human use. This might include bits of artifacts (flakes and tools, bone fragments, fire-cracked rock, pottery sherds, glas
