Before an excavation can take place many surveys must be undertaken, such as remote sensing techniques, to analyze the likelihood of the site containing something of historical interest. By excavating a piece of land a great deal can be found out about the past that simply can't be found out using aerial reconnaissance, magnetic survey methods or other such techniques. It is important to understand that excavation isn't undertaken lightly. A site will be studied …showed first 75 words of 1561 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1561 total…artefacts on, or around the surface of the ground. In light of these alternatives, excavation should be used as a last resort. When excavation does take place, archaeologists have enough fieldwork techniques that they should be able to maximise the preparation required to help co-ordinate the excavation and help ensure that whilst the excavation finds the most amount of information possible, that the least amount of damage is done to the environment and surrounding area.