This question is missing the answer choices. I have found them online; they are the following:
(Select all that apply)
edge of the pit
among the staring crowd
had been uncovered
was still embedded
Answer:
The context clues which effectively indicate the meaning of "excavations" are:
edge of the pit
had been uncovered
was still embedded
Step-by-step explanation:
"War of the Worlds" is a science-fiction book by H. G. Wells. The plot concerns a Martian invasion of our planet.
The space ships sent to Earth by the Martians are shaped like cylinders. Instead of landing softly, they do it quite forcefully, so part of the cylinder ends up buried in the ground. In the excerpt we are analyzing here, the cylinder is being excavated, that is, dug up. Even if the reader does not know the meaning of the word "excavations" as it is used in the excerpt, he can infer it from the clues:
edge of the pit
had been uncovered
was still embedded
The clues above help readers visualize the half-buried space ship and understand that some of it has already been dug up.