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tranchée de contrôle

English translation: control trench


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:tranchée de contrôle
English translation:control trench
Entered by: Neil Rear
Options:
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- Include in personal glossary

10:39 May 20, 2007
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Archaeology / Excavations
French term or phrase: tranchée de contrôle
En 1955, encouragé par les découvertes faites à cette époque à xxx, M. xxx, alors chef du Service des Antiquités du Maroc, décida d’ouvrir une tranchée de contrôle de 15 m de long et de 8 de profondeur dans le tell occidental, en vue de retrouver l’occupation romaine et de rechercher les traces d’un établissement préromain dont il pressentait l’existence.

(part of a text on the excavation of ancient sites in Morocco)
Neil Rear
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:01
control trench
Explanation:
I think it's as simple as that.

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Note added at 6 mins (2007-05-20 10:46:23 GMT)
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Picture here
http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?c=ual;view=e...
Selected response from:

Alain Pommet
Local time: 18:01
Grading comment
Thanks very much, Alain! Tough the choose between very good answers, but I'll go with this one.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2test trench
Jacqui Audouy
3 +3control trenchAlain Pommet
4 +1work round itxxxBourth
3 +2exploratory trench
suezen


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
control trench


Explanation:
I think it's as simple as that.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2007-05-20 10:46:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Picture here
http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?c=ual;view=e...


    Reference: http://radiocarbon.library.arizona.edu/radiocarbon/GetFileSe...
Alain Pommet
Local time: 18:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks very much, Alain! Tough the choose between very good answers, but I'll go with this one.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  cristina estanislau
1 min
  -> Thanks cristina
agree  katy hannan: I agree. katy
27 mins
  -> Thanks katy
agree  Christopher Crockett: Yes, it's not a "sondage" --something much more modest in size-- but one which cuts right through the site, all the way down to "virgin" soil, for the purpose of establishing the stratigraphy of the whole site. Excavation is destruction.
1 day1 hr
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
exploratory trench


Explanation:
In 2001, we introduced a 1x7 m exploratory trench in the apple orchard west of ... understandings of the archaeology of Grand-Pré National Historic Site. ...
www.grand-pre.com/GrandPreSiteDevelopment/en/SiteReport.htm... - 18k
WF '92: Exploratory Trench (Trench Y). This 10 x 5 m trench ran parallel to the ... Financial support was kindly provided by the Department of Archaeology, ...
www.arch.soton.ac.uk/Research/Anglesey/Anglesey3.html - 51k
An exploratory trench from the earlier excavations at Batten Hanger revealed two post holes ...
www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/west-dean-project/2006-fieldwork.... - 14k
A small exploratory trench (10) was dug over two parallel lines of high ... part of the Council for British Archaeology’s National Archaeology Week in July, ...
www.soagarch.org.uk/vphase22005.html - 13k

suezen
Local time: 18:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jacqui Audouy: Yep, they say that too, unpredictable these archaeologists (married to French one working in UK for 25 years!)
2 mins
  -> thanks Jacqui :-)
agree  jacqueb
30 mins
  -> thanks Jacque
neutral  Christopher Crockett: No, an "exploratory trench" would be a "sondage" --something much more modest in size than this one, which cuts right through the site, all the way down to "virgin" soil, for the purpose of establishing the stratigraphy.
23 hrs
  -> well if you look at my links Christopher, you'll see they are exactly the same size :-)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
test trench


Explanation:
This is the term used by archaeologists

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-05-20 12:38:37 GMT)
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Oh and just remem
bered sometimes they say "trial trench" too! just depends.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-05-20 12:40:07 GMT)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_trenching


    Reference: http://www.udel.edu/anthro/decunzo/read96/testrnch.html
    Reference: http://www.qub.ac.uk/caf/MRs/MR17.pdf
Jacqui Audouy
Local time: 18:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  jlrsnyder
12 mins
  -> thanks!
agree  jean-jacques alexandre: sounds good
19 hrs
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
work round it


Explanation:
Somehow I don't think this is an established TYPE of trench in archaeology, but is simply a way of saying that this trench served to check/confirm the guy's idea/premise.

I suggest you work round it:

Mr X decided to have a 15 m long, 8 m deep trench excavated in the western "tell" to check/confirm his premise, i.e. find evidence of (or did they already know the Romans had occupied this particular location, in which case maybe "i.e. expose remains of ...") Roman occupation and look for traces of the pre-Roman buildings/settlement he suspected were there / expected to find ..."



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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2007-05-21 13:07:07 GMT) Post-grading
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What I mean is, of the 10 Google hits for "tranchée de contrôle":

1 is the text referred to here
5 are ProZ discussion of that text
1 concerns a trench to prevent propagation of unwanted plants
1 is a trench to intercept contaminants in soil.

xxxBourth
Local time: 18:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 57

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Christopher Crockett: Yes, it's one which cuts right through the site, all the way down to "virgin" soil, for the purpose of establishing the stratigraphy of the whole site for further reference re other trenches elsewhere. Excavation is destruction.
14 hrs
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