Stability monitoring and evaluation of the modeled test square for prehistoric earthen sites during excavation period

In order to explore the stability of test square during archaeological excavation for prehistoric earthen sites in Hangzhou, a modeled test square with 2. 3 min depth, inplane dimensions of 5 min width by 5 m in length, and an archaeological column in the middle was excavated by means of a top-down excavation technique. To investigate the stability performance of the modeled test square and the associated effect on the adjacent area, a real-time comprehensive instrumentation program was conducted during the excavation. Field observations included ground settlements, lateral displacement, pore pressure and underground water level. Monitoring data indicates that the ground settlement induced by dewatering and unloading action basically decreases with the increase of the distance away from the pit edge, and the lateral displacements at four sides showa nonlinear variation along the depth. The maximum value is far below the acceptable value regulated by the related standard,which validates the stability of the modeled test square during excavation. Variations of pore pressure and water level suggest that long-term stability should be paid more attention due to the slowconsolidation of soft soil. Meanwhile, it is proved that the step shape of the wall can resist lateral displacement more effectively than the vertical shape of wall. This case study provides insights into the real archaeological excavation in Hangzhou, in particular Liangzhu prehistoric earthen sites.

Numerical simulation of the behaviors of test square for prehistoric earthen sites during archaeological excavation

During the process of archaeological excavation in the regions of Southeast China, collapse of test square usually occurs due to poor site-specific conditions. In this paper, the fast Lagrangian analysis of continua in three dimensions（FLAC3D） is employed to reveal the behaviors of test square. Taking the archaeological works in Liangzhu prehistoric earthen sites as the research background, the paper first introduces the geological setting, excavation procedure and monitoring scheme of the studied test square. Then, the deformation of four sides of the test square is modeled using FLAC3D. By comparison, it shows that the numerical results are consistent with the results from field monitoring. The result suggests that the numerical simulation can be effectively applied to representing the actual behaviors of the test square,which is helpful for determination of excavation scheme and stability evaluation of the test square during archaeological excavation.