The backhoe is roaring, and clearing the site of vegetation. All of our pre-field planning and research has told us where the Chinatown lays. Or at least we think so. After two days of exploring with the backhoe, the Chinatown appeared about 15 ft. off from where we thought it would, based on historic maps. Not bad for this game.
Archaeology is about good solid research, accompanied by intuition that comes from reading the soil.
We excavate with a crew of archaeologists working alongside a backhoe or two. This is really the second phase of a long process. Excavation is only about 10 percent of an archaeological project. The first phase was the pre-field research. Next is the actual excavation, and continuing research based upon what we find in the field.