Trowels, whisk brooms and even dental picks and toothbrushes are among the tools used by archaeologists, who switch from tool to tool according to the fragility of the artifacts being excavated or the nature of the surrounding soils. Since archaeological excavation takes place in the sun all day, archaeologists may install a large tent or tarp over the excavations, to protect the features and artifacts as they are uncovered, and the archaeologists who uncover them. Shown in this photo is a palapa, a kind of open-sided shed found in the tropics and used by many archaeological excavations.
When the archaeologists excavated the building rubble from the ancient collapse of Toucan House, they found ceramics and lithics mixed within with the construction debris. But the floors were clean and no features such as hearths or storage pits were discovered within or near the house.
