excavation

Converse of object

• undertake: Much work still to be undertaken, mainly excavation.
• conduct: In 1960 her team cleared the interior and conducted excavations in and around the basilica.
• commence: National Grid intends to commence excavations for the construction of the line itself in mid-late January and construction activities will continue throughout the year.

Converse of subject

• uncover: The listing should include records of skeletal material uncovered by excavation and subsequently re-buried on the site.

Adjective modifier

• archeological: However, recent archeological excavations show Saxon women are more often buried with pairs of saucer brooches.
• illicit: There is a specific provision against treasure hunting, illicit excavation and dealing in antiquities ( Article 51 - 52 ).
• Recent: Recent excavations revealed a cemetery of over 800 burials dating from the late Roman period through to the Norman conquest.
• small-scale: In addition, small-scale excavation on some of the sites has identified important sites of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age date.
• large-scale: Despite controversial proposals in the 1980s, the academic case for further large-scale excavation on the southern part of the amphitheater is not overwhelming.
• exploratory: The DGLA kindly invited some HADAS members to visit the site to see their exploratory excavations.

Modifies a noun

• trench: The main excavation trench examined the major ditch that runs northwards from Rocky Clump.

Noun used with modifier

• rescue: Looks at the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon village and at a rescue excavation in Worcester.
• basement: The Ham & High reports on the number of basement excavations currently taking place in the posh suburb.
• trial: Trial excavations on local sites in West Kent to solve specific research problems.

Preposition: of

• trench: In 1988 a watching brief was carried out during the excavation of a trench for an electricity cable to light the ticket office.
• barrow: The excavation of eighteen round barrows near Shrewton, Wiltshire.
• cairn: The excavation of a Neolithic long cairn of the Cotswold-Severn group.
• ditch: The excavation of the barrow ditch is going quite well but heavy rain showers most days have slowed our progress.
• pit: Also the start of excavation of the large pit that cuts through the hypocaust on its eastern side.
• tomb: His most recent fictional book, First light, has as its central theme the excavation of a fictitious megalithic tomb in Dorset.