"Grid System or Horizontal Excavation"

For horizontal excavations are followed by grid system in which a

series of squares of uniform size is laid out and the other is stripping complete
area without the aid of square divisions or balks.

The grid divides the area into a series of exact squares which are
parallel to the baseline and to the datum line. The surveyor lays out the metric
grid parallel to the datum line. This orientation is necessary because it enables
the archaeologists to describe accurately.

The size of the square boxes will depend on the depth to be

excavated. Normally, 5 to 10 metre square will be reasonable. The squares are
separated by the balks of uniform width of 50 cm or 1mt depending on the
nature of the soil. The balks help the excavator in the correlation of stratigraphy
from the different parts of the sites.

After the grid is laid out and the peg marking done accurately
they can be conveniently named by means of letters on one direction and by
numbers in the other. The squares mark as A1, A2, A3 etc. or B1, B2 , B3 and
so on.

A great advantage in this grid system is that it lends itself to

expansion in any direction without hampering the basic datum line of sections.
Therefore, this is a very convenient system to excavate a vast area or a town site
and every part of it could be plotted and integrated in the over-all site grid.