19th July 2010, 08:47 PM
Horses for Courses - it takes lots of experience and insight to strike the right balance between (at one extreme) 100% sequential stratigraphic excavation + full single context recording and planning , and (at the other extreme) test slots/interventions/trenches and recording multicontext exposures....
moderatley and deeply stratified archaeological sites are significantly more complex than shallow ones (and quite often contain 'research grade' resources)
therefore local relic and underlying topography is of major relevance...bore holes provide important ground truth for 'overall' depths of anthropogenic deposits and the relationship between inherited and relic geomorphologhy....
focused goals are often important - how significant are the 18th levels/features compared with eg prehistoric ones? with so much potential material available on an urban site, some pragmatism must often be used, and this might be reflected in the techniques used/the level of recording....
some urban excavations are never larger than evaluation trenches anyway (eg footings) - so the potential loss and future unavailability of material must be considered seriously at all stages.
many full excavations show that evaluations have been seriously deficient (not necessarily with blame) in predicting the nature of archaeological remains - however depth of anthropogenic disturbance is generally as expected......
moderatley and deeply stratified archaeological sites are significantly more complex than shallow ones (and quite often contain 'research grade' resources)
therefore local relic and underlying topography is of major relevance...bore holes provide important ground truth for 'overall' depths of anthropogenic deposits and the relationship between inherited and relic geomorphologhy....
focused goals are often important - how significant are the 18th levels/features compared with eg prehistoric ones? with so much potential material available on an urban site, some pragmatism must often be used, and this might be reflected in the techniques used/the level of recording....
some urban excavations are never larger than evaluation trenches anyway (eg footings) - so the potential loss and future unavailability of material must be considered seriously at all stages.
many full excavations show that evaluations have been seriously deficient (not necessarily with blame) in predicting the nature of archaeological remains - however depth of anthropogenic disturbance is generally as expected......