LibGuides: Archaeology: Site Reports

Site Reports Search Strategies

Site Reports document, classify and analyze layers of structures and artifacts of a particular place. They are core and key primary sources in the archaeology of a place (or site), based on evidence from the time of the work.

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Reports speculate on function and social connections and draw conclusions. In some cases they document the history of the 'digs' and of research. Reports frequently attempt to cover the chronology of habitation. Site Reports exist in a wide range of formats, and can range from old in the case of a site that is no longer accessible, to preliminary format in hard-to-find print or online publications. In some cases, early Site Reports will be superseded by subsequent findings or technology, and interpretations through time may not be definitive or stable.

Bibliography: Mignon, Molly Raymond, Dictionary of Concepts in Archaeology, 1993.
The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. Brian M. Fagan, 1996.

Site reports can be challenging to find, and may require flexibility in searching resources. In some cases, images, captions and bibliographies can be useful, as in the case where a report will appear only in a foreign language, or could be "old," depending on the history of the site.

Search Strategies: Try a variety of keyword strategies in searching for materials, and use keyword combinations with :

Tip 1) Try using the following words along with a country name, region, found object and/or type of site (eg. Pompeii and...; wine and... tombs and...)

excavation
antiquities
archaeology
report
site
historical

Tip 2) Think globally about the site names and/or objects you are searching. Do they have alternate spellings or earlier names you could try? Brainstorm with these tools:

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names Online
Click on the search result matching your name to see a description and some alternate and/or preferred spellings. For example: Sicily, see also Sicilia.
[Getty] Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Click on results to see alternate terms in a hierarchy (broader terms and narrower), as well as key sources.

Année Philologique This link opens in a new window
Collects international scholarly works relating to every aspect of ancient Greek and Roman civilization...and auxiliary disciplines like archaeology.
Updated annually. Corresponds to the printed L'Annee Philologique, the international critical and analytical bibliography of ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures and classical studies. Provides 350,000 bibliographic records for the years 1949 to the present, with 12,500 new records added each year. The international offices analyze 1,500 periodicals each year as well as 500 articles in collections and conference papers.

    1) Use Advanced Search with "or" to cast the widest search.
    2) Search full text, use ? for wildcard
    3) Filter to English (anglais) language only if desired.

Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new window
Worldwide indexing of mainstream journals in anthropology and related fields including archaeology. Search for site reports using keywords like archaeology, historical, surveys.
Updated quarterly. Brings together into one searchable resource Anthropological Literature from Harvard University and Anthropological Index from Royal Anthropological Institute in the UK. Provides worldwide indexing of journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. Offers coverage of all core periodicals in the field in addition to local and lesser-known journals. A Source Titles List is available.
DYABOLA (Free) This link opens in a new window
The complex interface in the exhaustive DYABOLA (Dynamically Accumulating Database on Objects and Literature About Antiquity) generates lists of resources from books, articles, and essays on classical, early Christian, Byzantine, early Medieval, and ancient Middle Eastern antiquities, art, and archaeology. No "find it" option to the Libraries' catalog is available for this tool, but users of this very thorough resource will be able to copy the "Source Titles" into the catalog to see if the Libraries' owns.
This is the free version of the DYABOLA database. DYABOLA (Dynamically Accumulating Database on Objects and Literature About Antiquity) provides citations to books, articles, and essays on classical, early Christian, Byzantine, early Medieval, and ancient Middle Eastern antiquities, art, and archaeology.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
Full text of articles from over 300 humanities periodicals dating back to 1995, and high-quality indexing for almost 700 humanities journals—of which 470 are peer-reviewed—dating as far back as 1984.
Provides access to articles from many of the most important academic journals in the humanities with the full text of articles from over 300 periodicals dating back to 1995, and high-quality indexing for almost 700 journals—of which 470 are peer-reviewed—dating as far back as 1984. The database provides coverage of feature articles, interviews, bibliographies, obituaries, and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and book reviews, as well as reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, radio and television programs, plays, operas, and more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archives of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and science. Try the "advanced search" options.
Updated regularly. Offers a high-quality, interdisciplinary archive to support scholarship and teaching. Includes archives of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. The entire corpus is full-text searchable, offers search term highlighting, includes high-quality images, and is interlinked by millions of citations and references.
Members of the public can read online up to three articles for free every two weeks from a large subset of JSTOR journals via the Register & Read program. This program allows remote access. Non-UT students, faculty and staff who need more articles can contact library staff for other access options.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide

Fasti Online
"database of excavations [throughout the Roman Empire] since 2000, providing a record in English and in the local language for each season. ... not ... all sites being excavated, and certainly not on those excavated in the past, or never excavated. Each participating country is responsible for uploading the data it gathers: some countries’ records are more complete than others."

Perseus Art & Archaeology Artifact Browser
Browse Perseus (Tufts) content for buildings, gems, coins, sculptures, sites, and vases.

Archaeological Site Reports in Books

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