When archaeologists or other people excavate a piece of land, they remove earth carefully from it and look for things such as pots, bones, or buildings which are buried there, in order to discover information about the past. A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. + excavation excavations ex·ca·va·tion the excavation of a bronze-age boat
remove the inner part or the core of; "the mining company wants to excavate the hillsite" form by hollowing; "Carnegie had a lake excavated for Princeton University's rowing team"; "excavate a cavity" find by digging in the ground; "I dug up an old box in the garden" lay bare through digging; "Schliemann excavated Troy
To excavate means to dig a hole in the ground, for example in order to build there. A contractor was hired to drain the reservoir and to excavate soil from one area for replacement with clay. + excavation ex·ca·va·tion the excavation of canals