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excavation site

excavation site

1 3.7
A place where people dig to find old objects like bones and tools
  • noun
  • /ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃən saɪt/
translation icon : sitio de excavación
  • At the excavation site, researchers discovered tools used by early humans thousands of years ago.

Examples

  • On a normal day, she would already be at the excavation site where the crew of her Helike Project is hard at work.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The team spent the summer at an excavation site, carefully digging for artifacts that date back to the Roman era.

  • " We were on a field trip, looking for excavation sites.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The screen showed an excavation site in the late afternoon, mostly covered in tarpaulins as protection against the elements.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The place where the World Trade Center stood in New York has become an excavation site filled with rubble that stands six stories high.

    Academic text (2001)
  • At the excavation site in Scotland, the tunnel leading into the cavern had collapsed.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • So far, ARMH has recovered the remains of some 520 individuals from 40 excavation sites.

    Academic text (2006)
  • One excavation site, near the village of Taruga, revealed something else Fagg had not expected: iron furnaces.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The AIA grant was used to restore the wall, build a new gate, and add a safety fence around the excavation site, thereby ensuring the continuation of the archaeology program.

    Academic text (2011)
  • During our vacation, we visited an excavation site where archaeologists were uncovering ancient pottery.

Synonyms

dig
vsexcavation site
60 3.9

A place where people remove earth to find old objects

focuses on uncovering historical artifacts rather than fossils or buildings
archeological site
vsexcavation site
  • Specialized
10 3.7

A place where people dig to find objects from past human life

is specifically where archaeologists dig to uncover historical artifacts
excavation
vsexcavation site
9 5.4

A hole in the ground made by digging, often for building or finding old things

is a place for archaeological digging to find artifacts, not just a dug hole
digs
vsexcavation site
  • Specialized
8.1

A place where people dig to find old objects or valuable stones

focuses on archaeological uncovering rather than mining for minerals
diggings
vsexcavation site
  • Archaic
8.4

An area where people dig for minerals or ancient objects

is used for archaeological research specifically, not mainly for mining

How Big

archeological site
  • Specialized
10 3.7
excavation site
1 3.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

excavation + site

The meaning 'a place where archaeologists dig' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'excavation' (a dug site) with 'site' (a plot of ground); a B1 learner who knows both words can infer this compound meaning. This is a straightforward noun-noun composition following common cross-linguistic patterns, so no special idiomatic knowledge is required.

Etymology

Excavation site comes from the clear image of a place set aside for digging: excavation means 'digging' and site means 'place'. That's why the phrase describes 'a place where archaeologists dig to uncover historical remains'.