Digging up or removing earth, rock, or other material, especially in archaeology or construction.
From Latin 'excavare,' from 'ex-' (out) and 'cavare' (to hollow out, from 'cavus' meaning hollow). The term has been used since at least the 16th century for systematic digging.
Archaeologists excavate layer by layer because of something called 'stratigraphy'—older stuff is deeper—so by carefully noting the depth and soil layers, they can read history like pages in a book, revealing timelines that radiocarbon dating then confirms!
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