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Question #71744 (2010-03-29)

  the denfinition or what makes up an arch site. IE: petro
glyphs, petro forms, CMT's, lithis scatterings, pit home
rings.?

Answer(s):

Thank you for your question.

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The content of your question is somewhat unclear; however, I assume you are talking about archeological sites.

Wikipedia gives a fairly clear explanation of what constitutes an archeological site: "An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record."

By this definition, sites containing the types of evidence of past activity that you list (petroglyphs, petroforms, etc.) would be considered archeological sites.

You can access the full text of the Wikipedia article at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_site

This general definition of an archeological site is confirmed at the following websites:

http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/glossary.html http://www.nps.gov/history/seac/terms.htm http://archive.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/ilrr/glossary.html

Parks Canada provides the following definition of an archeological site: "Archaeological site encompasses surface, subsurface or submerged remains of human activity at which an understanding of these activities and the management of these resources can be achieved through the employment of archaeological techniques."

You can view this definition at the following link: http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/pc/guide/guide/sec3/commemorative_glossary_1.aspx

I hope that this information is useful to you. Good luck with your research.