excavation

Everyday

1. Digging in the ground, especially carefully to find old things such as bones, pots and buildings. tree →
2. A place where such digging is done; a dig. tree →
3. Digging a big hole for building, for example for a basement or tunnel. tree →

In the lessons

In history and science lessons, archaeologists carry out excavations to find Roman coins or dinosaur bones. On building sites, excavation means digging out the ground before building. Safety: excavations are deep holes — keep out.

Examples

• The excavation uncovered a Roman mosaic floor. tree →
• Archaeologists spent months on the excavation. tree →
• We visited an excavation where dinosaur bones were found. tree →
• Keep away from the excavation — the sides may fall in. tree →
• Excavation for the new car park begins next week. tree →
• The museum shows objects from the excavation. tree →
• The excavation was carefully mapped in squares. tree →
• The wonderful excavations in Olympia, to which allusion has already been made, have brought to light an exquisite marble group of Hermes and the infant Bacchus, by Praxiteles. tree →

Note

Verb: excavate; person: excavator (also a digging machine). Countable: excavations. Archaeologists dig slowly with small tools and brushes so nothing breaks. Dinosaur digs are by palaeontologists, not archaeologists — a common confusion.