excavation

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
excavate /ˈɛkskəveɪt/

▶verb

• 1 make (a hole or channel) by digging.

  ■ dig out (material) from the ground.

• 2 carefully remove earth from (an area) in order to find buried remains.

– derivatives
excavation noun,
excavator noun.

– origin C16: from L. excavat-, excavare ‘hollow out’.