excavation

英[ekskə'veɪʃ(ə)n] 美[,ɛkskə'veʃən]

1. the act of digging;

"there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton"

2. the site of an archeological exploration;

"they set up camp next to the dig"

3. a hole in the ground made by excavating

4. the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth