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Archaeological_site.
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past human activities is preserved, and which has been investigated using the discipline of archeology.
Sites are distinguished by the presence of both artifacts and features. Common features include the remains of hearths and houses. Ecofacts, biological materials (such as bones, scales, and even feces) that are the result of human activity but are not deliberately modified, are also common at many archaeological sites.
Archaeological sites form through processes that can be both natural and human-related. Cultural remnants which have been buried by sediments are in many environments more likely to be preserved than exposed cultural remnants. Natural actions resulting in sediment deposited include alluvial (water-related) or eolian (wind-related) natural processes. In jungles and other areas of lush plant growth vegetative sediment can result in layers of soil deposited over remains. Colluviation - the burial of a site by sediments moved by gravity - can also happen, although it is more rare. Human activities (both deliberate and incidental) also often bury sites. It was fairly common in many cultures for newer structures to be built atop the remains of older ones. The sediment in which a site is buried is termed the matrix.
Generally, evidence of human activity is not considered an archaeological site unless it exceeds fifty years in age and yields more than a small number of artifacts or features.
Famous archaeological sites include:
For a more detailed list, see: List of famous archaeological sites
This article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Moon Handbooks: Oaxaca 2 Ed: Mountain Craft Regions, Archaeological Sites, and Coastal Resorts by Bruce Whipperman
Greece: An Oxford Achaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) by Tony Spawforth
The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 (Oxford Archaeological Guides) by Jerome Murphy-O Connor
The Durango South Project: Archaeological Salvage of Two Late Basketmaker III Sites in the Durango District by Gooding
Southern France: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) by Henry Cleere
Guide to the Measurement of Animal Bone from Archaeological Sites: As Developed by the Institut Fur Palaeoanatomie, Domest by Angela Von Den Driesch
Oxford Archaeological Guides- England by Timothy Darvill
Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides) by Anna Ritchie
House Pits and Middens: A Methodological Study of Site Structure and Formation Processes at Ca-Ora-116, Newport Bay, Orange County, California by Donn R. Grenda
Ancient Italy: Splendours of the Archaeological Sites and the Art Masterpieces of the Past by Furio Durando
Piazza Armerina (Archaeological Sites (Austin, Tex.).) by Roger John Anthony Wilson
Archaeological Mexico 2 Ed: A Guide to Ancient Cities and Sacred Sites by Andrew Coe
Cultural Sites of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia by Jacques Dumarcay
Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile: The Archaeological Context and Interpretation (Vol 2) (Smithsonian Series in Archaeological Inquiry) by Tom D. Dillehay
Lang Rongrien Rockshelter: A Pleistocene, Early Holocene Archaeological Site from Krabi, Southwestern Thailand (University Museum Monograph, No 71) by Douglas D. Anderson
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