Archaeology Reference library
David L. Browman
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology
...two circulars in 1862 and 1863 with instructions on excavation methodology for collectors working to secure materials for government museums. Gibbs’s instructions were quite sophisticated for the time. For example, Gibbs suggested that an excavator of a burial mound or shell midden should note if it “exhibited any marks of stratification,” with any artifacts recovered noted as to “the depth at which they were discovered,” and should count the annual rings of any tree growing on a mound to get an estimate of age ( Gibbs, 1862 , pp. 395–396). For much of...
