Page 230 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

© National Museum of Underwater Archaeology. ARQUA. Observation grid during the excavation of lead ingots from the wreck Mazarron II, Spain. Large or smaller grids are often placed over a wrecksite to map and measure the site, and to position individual finds. Such a grid can be made of aluminium framing or other material.
 © Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. Drawing of a piece of rope and its construction from a wreck.
according to the project design, archaeologists begin with the fieldwork. Many types of equipment and technology will be used at this stage.
The central objective of documentation at the start of fieldwork is to ensure a full, clear, and accurate description of the site, and of all field operations and observations, including excavation and recording techniques. A phased documentation programme in accordance with a phased project design is often the most efficient and cost-effective. It allows for winding up the project after each phase and for reconsidering the feasibility and usefulness of the next, as well as a fine-tuning of methods.
The techniques chosen for archaeological docu- mentation should be the most effective, least des- tructive, most efficient and most economical means of obtaining the needed information. This seems to be a platitude, but in underwater archaeological work this
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Documentation