Archaeological site surveying is the process of locating and initially evaluating sites in a given area.

There are 11 main steps in archaeological surveying:

1. Preliminary research.

2. Selection of sampling design.

3. Identification of sites.

4. Precise locating and recording of their position.

5. Assignment of designating code.

6. Basic recording of the characteristics of sites, including topographic characteristics, major environmental features, vegetational cover, cultural features and surface collections, direction of exposure, and degree of disturbance.

7. Basic recording of subsurface features where possible, including soil types, depth and nature of cultural deposits, stratification, and geology.

8. Assessment of the significance of each site and its suitability for further investigation or archaeology excavation (related to a particular theoretical problem at hand).

9. Assessment of the likelihood of future disturbances or destruction at each site.

10. A synthesis of information about the survey area at large, including predictions about the site population, site densities and clustering, and most frequent environmental associations.

11. Description of the overall impact of development on the total site inventory or the area (if a salvage situation) and general recommendations concerning future research.

Source from : http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/afm/afm_surveytech.htm

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