Why do archaeologists excavate? What should we expect from archaeological archives? OGS Crawford’s discovery and excavation of the course of the Stonehenge Avenue in the summer of 1923 – perhaps the first time that a cropmark was identified on an aerial photograph and the first such site to be excavated, and moreover a discovery that had considerable impact on the understanding of Stonehenge’s construction and its relationship with the wider landscape – has left virtually no material trace within the relevant archives. This paper aims to offer an explanation for that absence, and to shed some light on Crawford’s belief that his excavations were unlikely to yield ‘tangible results’.

中文翻译：

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捕捉无形的物质：OGS Crawford、Ghosts 和巨石阵大道

考古学家为什么要挖掘？我们应该对考古档案有什么期待？OGS Crawford 在 1923 年夏天发现并挖掘了巨石阵大道的路线——这也许是第一次在航拍照片上发现作物标记，也是第一个被挖掘的此类地点，而且这一发现对对巨石阵建筑及其与更广阔景观的关系的理解——在相关档案中几乎没有留下任何物质痕迹。本文旨在为这种缺席提供一个解释，并阐明克劳福德的信念，即他的发掘不太可能产生“切实的结果”。