We excavated Castle Rock Pueblo very carefully, but the tools we used were not always fancy or high-tech. You may be familiar with some of the tools that we used for excavating Castle Rock Pueblo, such as buckets, whisk brooms, paintbrushes, trowels, and tape measures. We spent a lot of time photographing, mapping, and documenting what we found at Castle Rock Pueblo. Artifacts are important sources of information, but without the notes about where they were found and what other artifacts were near them, they are not of any value to an archaeologist. So it is vital to keep good records.
Archaeological excavation requires digging in a precise way using scientific techniques.
During the first two years of excavation at Castle Rock Pueblo, we dug in small, square pits to explore different parts of the pueblo. These test pits were like windows into the ground. For each test pit we excavated, we made detailed records, maps, and photographs of what we found. What we found in the small test pits helped us decide where to dig next. Eventually we dug a whole kiva and several nearby rooms.