Help with Searching

This page is intended to provide some guidance for searching the database on-line.

Basic or Advanced Search

The search tools include both a "basic" and "advanced" search, with the latter providing the choice of several more fields. Several fields are expanded drop-down lists. To select, click on the field and then check/uncheck the boxes that you want to search.

To search other fields, enter a word or words in the Keyword box. This will search "free text" fields in the database. Note that sophisticated searches are not currently available; entering "John Smith" in the Keyword field will find only those records containing "John Smith," NOT all Johns or all Smiths. "Boolean" operators ("AND," "OR," and "NOT") are not currently available here.

The database is structured so that attributes of both the site and the individual feature are searchable. If you want the maximum number of results, concentrate on the "site"-related attributes; generally we know more about the attributes of the site as a whole, and thus you are more likely to find a site that MAY have collections matching what you are interested in. Feature information has been entered as fully as possible, but many features are somewhat ambiguous (both in probable function and in date).

Include Filter

This sections allows you to filter out only those records that match selected criteria. The "Catalogued?" filter selects only those feature collections that have artifact catalogs at the MAC Lab. The "Specialized Analysis?" filter selects collections that have been subject to special analysis (radiocarbon, ceramic vessel studies, glass vessel studies, tobacco pipe bore analysis, faunal analysis, paleobotanical analysis, lithic analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), or X-ray fluorescence (XRF)). The "Phase II" and "Phase III" filter select features from those sites that have been subject to Phase II (evaluation) or Phase III (extensive excavation) investigations, respectively.

Exclude Postholes

The database contains approximately *** features. Some *** of these are individual postholes, or other isolated features that are probably not large enough for individual analysis. Excluding these postholes (the default option) will limit the results to a more manageable set, but for those who wish to see all features, just uncheck the Exclude Postholes box.