Excavate.it

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What is Excavate.it?
Excavate.it is a system for recording archaeological excavations. It brings every record an excavation produces into a single Notion workspace: finds, stratigraphic units, photographs, storage boxes, and reports, all linked to each other. On top of that record we build tools that read it back, such as a generated Harris Matrix and a 3D view of the site.
Who is it for?
Excavation teams: directors and project leads, field archaeologists, specialists such as ceramicists and conservators, universities and research institutes, heritage authorities, and commercial archaeology units.
Does my team need to know Notion?
No. Most teams already know how to use it, and the workspace is set up for your excavation before you start. We bring your data across and stay with your team until recording in it is faster than what you did before.
Can we bring our existing records?
Yes. Most excavations arrive with years of paper records, spreadsheets, survey files, and photographs. The migration reads the archive as it actually exists, works out where each column and code belongs, and flags anything that does not map cleanly instead of guessing.
Who owns the data?
You do. The records live in your own Notion workspace, and you can export all of them at any time.
What tools come with it?
A Harris Matrix generated from the stratigraphic relationships in your context sheets, with contradictions flagged. A 3D view of the site with every find where it was found, units grouped into phases and periods, material density heatmaps, and Munsell soil colours. Georeferenced LiDAR and orthophotos with total station points, a LiDAR timeline of each trench, and contour lines. Pages of the handwritten excavation diary can be scanned and transcribed, with every unit and find they mention linked to its record.
Which excavations use it?
Excavate.it was built with the Greek-Albanian excavation at Maligrad on Lake Prespa in Albania, run by I.DI.PO.S., and with the excavation at Torre dell'Alto in Italy, with the Department of History and Cultures of the University of Bologna.
How do we get started?
Tell us how your excavation records today, what you already have from previous seasons, and what you need out of it. The first conversation is about your records, not about software.
How does the excavation diary transcription work?
Scan a page of the handwritten excavation diary and it is transcribed into that day's entry in Notion. Every grave, stratigraphic unit and find the page mentions is linked to its record, and the original scan stays attached to the entry, so the handwriting is always one click away.
How is the Harris Matrix built?
From the stratigraphic relationships recorded in your context sheets, not drawn and maintained by hand. As the matrix takes shape, contradictions in those relationships are flagged, and the same sequence can be read unit by unit or gathered into the phases and periods you use to interpret the site.
Can we bring LiDAR scans, orthophotos and drone models?
Yes. LiDAR scans and orthophotos are georeferenced by setting points on them and entering their total station coordinates; with three or more points you can check the fit and see the error at each point. Every scan keeps its date, so a trench's scans play back on a timeline, and contour lines are drawn at whatever interval you set. Drone and camera models, orthophotos and LiDAR all sit in the same 3D space as your units and finds.
Can we record Munsell soil colours?
Yes. Hue, value and chroma are recorded as fields of their own on stratigraphic units and finds, not buried in a description, and the 3D scene uses them to colour each unit and find, so changes in the deposit show in the ground itself.
Can it help us plan the season?
An optional template runs the season around the dig, in the same workspace as the excavation records: missions and their permits, the people involved and their roles, the costs booked against them, and the travel and paperwork that make it happen.
How does the team work together in it?
Everyone works on the same linked records. One database can have many views, such as a photo gallery for the finds specialist, a table for the registrar and a board for the director, without copying anything. Questions are asked and settled in comments on the unit or find itself, so a decision made in the trench is still there when the report is written.
Can we draw on our own site plans?
Yes. Place and scale a photographic excavation plan in the 3D scene and draw stratigraphic units directly onto it; the plan stays in place as a reference while you map the units.
Does it work in the trench without a signal?
Yes. In the trench the team writes the diary on paper and photographs everything with a phone, and a laptop in offline mode can add the basic details of new finds. Back at the house, once it is online, the new finds and stratigraphic units sync to the cloud on their own, and everyone uploads their notes straight to the right record.
Can we keep our own terminology and way of recording?
Yes. Columns are named in the terms your excavation already uses: at Maligrad, stratigraphic units are called loci. When new information does not fit the structure, a column is added on the spot and data entry carries on, so the database keeps adapting to how you actually work.
Where does AI come in, and who checks it?
Notion has AI built in. It helps transcribe and even translate the day's diary from a photo of the page and your own notes or audio, proposes changes to the Harris Matrix from the relationships the diary describes, and can draft an article from a mission's records. An archaeologist checks and validates every change before it counts.
Can we see who changed what?
Yes. Every change shows who made it and when, and questions are answered in comments on the record itself. Because the system knows what data to expect, it also highlights missing information and flags conflicts, instead of leaving them to a manual check at the end of the season.
Can we make charts from our data?
Yes, straight from the same records: from finds by type to finds grouped by material and excavation year. You do not need to know how to build one; you can describe the chart you have in mind to the built-in AI.
Do we need special equipment for the LiDAR photo plans?
The daily 3D photo plans at Torre dell'Alto were taken with the LiDAR built into an iPad, then georeferenced with the day's total station export. Following the trench's progress this way needs an iPad Pro or iPhone Pro with LiDAR.
Can we recruit volunteers through it?
Yes. A public form shared on your website or social media invites experts and volunteers to join the next mission. Their answers arrive in the same workspace, without exposing any of the excavation data to the public.
Is Excavate.it the same as Notion?
No. Notion is the database the records live in, and we did not build it: we know how to use it. Excavate.it is how we set it up for an excavation, bring your data across, and build the tools on top of it that complete the cycle, from recording to analysis.

Where to start

Tell us how your excavation records today

The useful first conversation is not about software. It is about what your season actually runs on, what you already have piled up from previous ones, and what you have never been able to get out of it.

Talk to us about your excavation