Archaeological Section - Stratigraphic Control

Stratigraphic Control

Sections may also be employed in excavation in temporary fashion as a form of stratigraphic control so as to ascertain the relationship between two or more contexts which may be better examined by the use of a section. Then once a relationship is established contexts can be removed from site in the reverse order they arrived in accordance with the stratigraphic excavation and the creation of a Harris matrix for the sequence being investigated. It is up to the archaeologist on site to determine the best local on site strategy for excavating deposits, be it "in section" or "in plan". In this regard the modern archaeologist uses sectioning as a tool for understanding the site stratigraphically during excavation rather than as an end goal in recording it. These caveats aside sections remain a powerful tool for archaeological investigation. A revival of digging in section with machines has occurred in recent years by a proliferation of limited time constrained development led excavations.