The proper progress of an archaeological excavation often includes stopping in the middle to identify and record what you have discovered and before you take it apart. By definition, complete archaeological excavation requires the destruction of the remains, and so it is vitally important that everything be recorded while its being excavated, and that the archaeologist stops at several points to record the overall site.
At its last phase of construction--the last time anyone lived here--Toucan House included four rooms and a plastered floor. The archaeologists identified the plaster floor and kept it intact for this photo until the time came to excavate below it. If the archaeologists had continued the excavation without taking this photo (and the map of the site on the next page), we would have less of a clear understanding of what the house looked like when it was occupied.
At Toucan House, the archaeologists stopped excavation, cleaned off the walls and plaster floor, and took photos and drew maps before continuing.
