Single-context planning: its role in on-site recording procedures and in post-excavation analysis at York

Pearson, Nicky; Williams, Tim

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-326445-9.50013-7

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Notable exceptions include Frederika Hammer's (no longer live) web-based Post-Ex. Manual (Hammer 2002) and Roskams’ (2001) seminal volume Excavation (see also, for example, Westman & Shepherd 1992; Pearson & Williams 1993; Carver 2009; Davies 2015, 2017; Lavan & Mulryan 2016), as well as occasional unpublished in-house commercial guidelines such as those by Headland Archaeology and Museum of London Archaeology (see May et al 2023, section 3.3). Otherwise, since the demise of the Interpreting stratigraphy conference series of the 1990s (Roskams 2000), discussion of post-excavation techniques is typically relegated to generalised discourse in relevant chapters of undergraduate textbooks (e.g.…”

Section: Current Approaches To Stratigraphic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Resurrecting, reinterpreting and reusing stratigraphy: an afterlife for archaeological data

Taylor,

May

2024

Antiquity

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Stratigraphic data form the backbone of archaeological records from excavated sites and are essential for the integrated analysis and wider interpretation of artefacts and sites. Accessible archiving of this data is therefore vital for understanding and revisiting such interpretations. Here, the authors highlight the need for more consistent digital records of stratigraphic and associated temporal relationships derived during post-excavation analysis phasing activities. They argue for the distillation of best practice in post-excavation procedures and the application of consistent and persistent terminology to make this fundamental archaeological data sustainably FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) and ‘Open’ across present-day geopolitical and spatiotemporal boundaries.

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Section: Current Approaches To Stratigraphic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Resurrecting, reinterpreting and reusing stratigraphy: an afterlife for archaeological data

Taylor,

May

2024

Antiquity

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“…Phasing is always an 'interpretative negotiation' and deciding which units belong to which phase is a matter of reasoning on the part of the archaeological stratigrapher. It is perhaps worth noting that there are a number of possible approaches to phasing stratigraphy (see Roskams 2001;Lucas 2001;Pearson and Williams 1993). Crucially, all these approaches share a common purpose: to divide the vertical sequence horizontally in order to group stratigraphic units and groups into bands that are related spatiotemporally.…”

Section: Common Approaches and Variations To Phasingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Matrix: connecting and re-using digital records and archives of archaeological investigations

May¹,

Taylor²

2023

Internet Archaeol.

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Stratigraphic data and relationships form the backbone of all the related archaeological records from each excavated site and are essential for integrated analysis, wider synthesis and accessible archiving of the growing body of archaeological data and reports generated through the commercial archaeological sector in the UK and internationally. The stratigraphic record, usually in the form of a stratigraphic matrix, with associated relationships and data, acts as a primary, if not the primary 'evidence' for how, and in what order, the site was excavated. As such the stratigraphic matrix can be the key mechanism that enables anyone less familiar with the site, to re-visit and re-use the excavation records, understand what data is most relevant for addressing certain research questions, or problems encountered, and piece together the underlying details of how the excavator(s) arrived at their interpretations. However such records are often only held on paper or as scanned image copies (as PDFs) of matrix diagrams that cannot easily be re-used with all the associated data. This article presents outcomes from The Matrix project (AHRC AH/T002093/1) that address the current problems caused by the lack of standardized approaches to digital archiving of archaeological data using the case study of stratigraphic and phasing data.

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“…In order to do that, it is necessary to reassemble and synthesize the units recorded, structuring the constituent parts into groupings. Elaborating on Pearson and Williams (Pearson and Williams 1993), and Herzog (Herzog 2004) the nomenclature and structure imposed on the stratigraphic sequence that will be used in the present work is as follows: a) feature, b) deposit, c) analytical units. A feature is a set of associated artifacts that were deposited together as part of the same social event; a deposit is a stratigraphic layer that "can be visually distinguished from the sediments above, below and beside it, differing from these other sediments by definition" (Warburton 2003:6); an analytical unit is an assemblage of deposits that can be segregated in groups or clusters based upon their physical characteristics, artifact content and chronology.…”

Section: Stratigraphic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrasite spatial organization at Chavín de Huantar during the andean formative: three dimensional modeling, stratigraphy and ceramics

Mesia-Montenegro¹

2018

Preprint

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The ceremonial center of Chavín de Huántar is located in the north central Peruvian highlands at 3,200 m.a.s.l. I have investigated the Wacheqsa sector, located immediately to the north of the monumental core with the objective of understanding the archaeological deposits that formed this area, and to analyze their chronological and spatial relationships.This research presents a new methodology for the investigation of intrasite space organization of stratigraphic components. I demonstrate that careful sampling programs can be extremely advantageous in investigating intrasite variation, in particular when all stratigraphic records are modeled using computer aided design (CAD). I identify five prehistoric spatial analytical units in the Wacheqsa Sector: Early Platforms, Water Flood, Late Platforms, Stone Rooms and Midden. I use bivariate kernel density estimations in order to investigate ceramic modalities and comprehend the nature of the activities developed in each unit, cross- referencing this line of evidence with the distribution of archaeological materials. I also use the Boone index as a measure of diversity in order to quantitatively segregate the analytical units identified.The Wacheqsa Sector was occupied from 1200 BC to 500 BC, during the Middle and Late Formative Periods. I have divided the prehistoric occupation into two phases. The oldest one (Urabarriu 1200-800 BC) encompasses the Early Platforms and Water Flood analytical units. The Early Platforms unit represents the oldest domestic settlement located in this sector. The Water Flood analytical unit provides evidence regarding canalization of the Wacheqsa River during this phase. The latest occupation phase (Janabarriu 800-500 BC), encompasses the Late Platforms, Stone Rooms and Midden analytical units. The Stone Room analytical unit represents a late settlement in the Wacheqsa Sector, the Midden provides evidence for suprahousehold food and beverage consumption and the Late Platforms unit seems to be a buffer area between these two units.In addition, the dating of these units shows that Chavín was contemporary with ceremonial centers of the Andean area during the Middle and Late Formative. It also demonstrates that the Janabarriu ceramic phase is 400 years earlier than previously suggested, being contemporary with the largest architectural phase at monumental core.

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Single-context planning: its role in on-site recording procedures and in post-excavation analysis at York

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Resurrecting, reinterpreting and reusing stratigraphy: an afterlife for archaeological data

Resurrecting, reinterpreting and reusing stratigraphy: an afterlife for archaeological data

The Matrix: connecting and re-using digital records and archives of archaeological investigations

Intrasite spatial organization at Chavín de Huantar during the andean formative: three dimensional modeling, stratigraphy and ceramics

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