25th May 2007, 11:05 AM
I recall a passage in Archaeology From The Earth (Wheeler 1952-ish) in which he argues passionately that appropriate excavation and recording methodologies are no different in hot countries to those in England. If he could do it in India in the fifties, why can't we?
We can; much much better, in fact.
The claim 'there's no stratigraphy' is almost always an excuse for being incapable of seeing it. That said, thick cemetery and dark earth deposits in England often frustrate any attempt to see clear stratigraphy too, and yes, sometimes perturbations are so extreme as to result in thick soils with 'massive structures' (i.e. no strat). The correct strategy in such cases is to employ methods that maximise what strat you can find, when you find it, and only dig in spits until you see recordable changes (the top of a skull flying off the end of your mattock, for example).
While I'm at it, an excess of imagined strata is just as unprofessional as hacking it all out in one go (albeit rectifiable from the records).
We can; much much better, in fact.
The claim 'there's no stratigraphy' is almost always an excuse for being incapable of seeing it. That said, thick cemetery and dark earth deposits in England often frustrate any attempt to see clear stratigraphy too, and yes, sometimes perturbations are so extreme as to result in thick soils with 'massive structures' (i.e. no strat). The correct strategy in such cases is to employ methods that maximise what strat you can find, when you find it, and only dig in spits until you see recordable changes (the top of a skull flying off the end of your mattock, for example).
While I'm at it, an excess of imagined strata is just as unprofessional as hacking it all out in one go (albeit rectifiable from the records).