Glossary
Archaeologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential archaeologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key archaeologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in archaeologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Artifact
- Human-made object.
- CRM
- Cultural resource management.
- Curation
- Caring for collections.
- Datum
- Reference point.
- Feature
- Non-portable remains.
- Field school
- Training dig.
- NAGPRA
- Native American graves law.
- Phase I survey
- Identifying sites.
- Provenience
- Exact find location.
- Screen
- Sieve for soil.
- Section 106
- Federal historic review.
- SHPO
- State historic preservation office.
- Stratigraphy
- Soil layers.
- Total station
- Survey instrument.
- Unit
- Excavation square.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Archaeologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Archaeologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.