by Matthew Betts, Canadian Museum of History

When the public thinks of archaeology, they often think of a stereotypical dig site: an archaeologist with a large crew, carefully removing dirt from precisely laid-out excavation units. Fieldwork involves hard manual labour, but the moments of discovery, the camaraderie of the crew, the outdoor setting and our collaborations with local communities more than make up for the long days.

Yet fieldwork is only a small portion of the archaeological process. In reality, about 90 percent of archaeology takes place in the laboratory and office, far from the excitement of any dig site.

The E’se’get ...