Archeological sites and features are typically made through processes of deposition, reclamation, disturbance, and environmental impacts. These processes are part of archeological resources' story. Archeologists, as a result, consider how archeological sites are made during their analyses.
* Deposition is the way people left artifacts or features behind. It may be purposeful (such as when people settle a village) or accidental (like if someone drops something during transit or leaves toolmaking debris). Some sites are buried when another is built atop it (such as in a pueblo or city).
* Reclamation processes transfer materials out of use, back into use. For example, a culture may scavenge bricks from an abandoned structure to build a new structure.
* Disturbance changes the contexts of materials within the site itself. It moves and mixes materials from and between different layers. Examples of disturbance are farming, heavy construction, rodent burrowing, and natural forces such as floods.
* Environmental impacts bury or reveal sites. They can include storms that deposit soil or water, wind that carries soil away, and freeze and thaw cycles that expose sites.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service