Maps are filled with information to show where things are, how far apart they are, and how to get from one place to the next. There are many kinds of maps, each created to show different kinds of information. If you were in a city and didn’t have a car, you might use a subway map. If you were lost in a museum, you could use a floor plan to find the exhibits and the exits. (See some examples in the Floor Plan Gallery below.)

Archaeologists create different kinds of maps. Some show an entire excavation site. Others show sections of a site. To map the layout of the buildings they excavate at a site, archaeologists make maps called plans.

A plan shows the walls of a structure along with everything found there. These plans help archaeologists understand what happened at that site, like where people cooked or slept. For example, imagine that an archaeologist finds a row of houses that don’t have kitchens inside. Then a hearth is discovered outside between the houses. The archaeologist might hypothesize that several families cooked together.