Archaeology and Responsible Artefact Collecting

Archaeological Record (Historic Cornwall) 

Archaeology and Responsible Artefact Collecting


Paul Barford





First draft 1.1 23rd June 2020 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Authors

Image
While the main texts here were written by archaeologist and archaeoblogger Paul Barford , some of the texts below are additionally commented upon by guest blogger Tamara Prava-Kroftova, the estranged half-sister of the more famous Lara Croft. Both grew up fascinated by archaeology, but while Lara went on to engage in artefact hunting as a Tomb-Raider, Tamara married and wrote her doctorate on the 'The Methodology of Archaeological Research: The Didactic Aspects' and now lectures at the West Ukrainian University of Volodymyr-Volynsky. Tamara sometimes may sound harsh, but in fact is only saying what every self-respecting British archaeologist should be saying, and should have been saying all along, about the idea of responsible collection-driven exploitation of the archaeological record. Unfortunately I could not find a British archaeologist willing to take part in this project and had to look to the centre of Europe to find one to uphold professional standards and values. ...
Read more

3.3: Archaeological layers

Image
In talking about archaeological context we tend to think of it in terms of being composed of individual layers. These are discrete units of sediment, debris, rock, and other materials that form or accumulate as the result of natural processes, human activity, or both. In order to describe them and indicate their position on a site and in its sequence, these layers are generally numbered sequentially (with the lowest number being that removed first). An individual layer or deposit may be termed (following geological nomenclature) a stratum, and multiple layers are called strata. Therefore the study of their sequence is called stratigraphy (description of what we call the stratification). One of the simplest ways to depict layers is to depict them as a vertical sequence and this is frequently done in the form of a section (or 'profile') through them. Here is an explanation from Michigan State University 'Campus Archaeology' page "Archaeology 101: Reading strati...
Read more