ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Post-excavation analysis

After archaeologists dig up things from the ground, they don't just stop there. They need to examine and analyze what they found to understand what happened a long time ago. This examination is called post-excavation analysis.

Post-excavation analysis is like a puzzle game. Archaeologists try to put all of the fragments that they found back together, or they look at them more closely to see what they can learn from them. For example, they might look at bones to figure out what kind of animals were in the area, or they might look at tools to figure out what people were using them for.

Sometimes archaeologists will also look at other things outside of what they dug up, like maps or old photographs, to help them understand what was going on in the area. All of this examining is like putting together little pieces of a story to get a better idea of what happened a long time ago.

Overall, post-excavation analysis is a super important step in archaeology because without understanding what happened a long time ago, we might not be able to learn from it and make better decisions in the future.