Documentation is the Key

If the third week in Savukoski had to be summarized using only one word, it definitely would be "documentation". After two weeks of preparations and initial work with the first excavation layers of each trench, the excavations started to suddenly speed up and it was time to carefully document each layer that we had uncovered. It was also time to dig into the potential trapping pit of Malmio 2 using a bit heavier machinery than archaeologists are traditionally known for!

Eagerly awaiting what will be revealed.

Drawing the podzol.

As each archaeological site gets destroyed as it's being excavated, it's vital to pay attention to exact documentation. To get a good overview of what we're excavating and to document all features that we face, it's typical to excavate in thin layers. This means digging 5 cm evenly around the whole excavation trench, revealing an excavation layer which is then documented both by drawing and photographing.

When drawing an archaeological plan, different soil types, stones and other features are drawn and named. As our excavation trenches were dug into prime examples of podzol, the typical soil of Finnish boreal forests, the natural soil sequences have been fairly unsurprising and don't include much variation when drawing. However, in between all the natural sequences, there are often remains of human influence, such as soil colored black by ash or brown by decomposed organic matter.

Besides drawing, trenches are also photographed from a few different angles. While the past archaeologists often climbed on trees or hazardous ladders in order to get an ideal shot, here we have it easy with two drones, which can be used to get aerial photos that can be even given exact coordinates for computer processing.

Besides drawing plans that feature horizontal cuts of excavation trenches, archaeologists also draw sections, which present trenches in the vertical plane. These drawings feature a cross section of the profile created by the borders of the excavation trench and thus they can be drawn only in the end, when the trench has been dug as deep as its needed. Using such drawings, archaeologists can highlight the stratigraphy of archaeological features, meaning the order of human activities visible in the layers of the profile. As older activities are below the others, these drawings can be used to illustrate and interpret the order of such activities over time.

As most of our sites are still in progress, we haven't drawn such cross sections yet. However, an exception came this week, as we dug into a potential trapping pit of Malmio 2. As trapping pits were used to hunt larger fauna, they were typically dug very deep (even 2 meters) and as Finnish soil doesn't preserve any potential wooden structures, it would have been time-consuming and pointless to dig it by hand, so we used an excavator instead. Even if archaeologists are known for trowels and brushes, sometimes larger machinery are more than welcome too!

Detail from the section.

This time the decision proved correct in the end, as it was soon revealed that the pit was no trapping pit after all, but instead a remain from something else entirely. The section that was revealed by digging into the pit clearly showed that the feature was fairly shallow and could only act as small nuisance to a deer running through it. While the purpose of the pit can only be speculated, it was documented among others and makes a good example of sections I mentioned earlier.

Later all drawings are scanned and re-drawn on the computer, in order to make clearer and polished visualizations of the trenches. When the time comes, I will share a few as an example of how such plans ultimately look like.

Distribution of finds after the second excavation layer.