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Post-excavation analysis always starts at the bottom of a sequence. You will be amazed to see how often the basic interpretation established on site when excavating downwards changes when considered in the order of deposition. Use the sequence diagram together with context descriptions.
The conversion from context description to processual interpretation involves each single record. During excavation a basic interpretation should have been suggested: "this deposit is a makeup layer, occupation or burnt debris, timber plank or part of a wall," or "this is a pit fill". During post-excavation analysis, by looking at deposition in sequence, all deposits, including timer and masonry, cuts in general and graves, are tested for the correctness of their basic interpretation:
Often it is difficult during recording to distinguish between material of construction and use because they are trampled together. In such a case it is legitimate to combine both codes to show a mixture of two, even three processes if there are signs of destruction too. Generally, however, it is best to emphasise the latest process a deposit underwent (i.e. destruction material used as a makeup would be coded as part of construction).
Several points can be assessed to refine the original site interpretation; some details can be better determined if looking at the contexts in stratigraphic order:
Make a note of the highest and lowest surface levels to determine later whether separated contexts were originally part of the same deposits.
No big statements are expected at this stage: it does not matter, for example, whether this feature was of "Roman or Medieval date". A basic interpretation deduced from a description such as "a V-shaped, N-S aligned linear feature, sloping slightly to the north" is likely to have been "a ditch". The basic questions to ask of a cut feature are:
Again, as for deposits, make a note of lowest and highest levels for the comparison of features.
Grave cuts in cemeteries are dealt with in the same way, the skeleton and the covering soil being part of the primary fill. As, however, in the dark soil of a graveyard earlier graves are often cut by later ones or reused, the interpretation here may be particularly difficult. Often section drawings help to clarify the sequence.
The reason for formation, whether due to a natural process or as a result of human intervention, can be understood by looking at certain characteristics of the description applied to both fills and layers. The occurrence of artefacts or residue of human occupation, for instance, helps to clarify a deposit as archaeological (Table 13).
When considering the compaction it is important to take humidity into account: a wet or moist deposit would rarely be as compacted as a dry one, unless it was very sandy. The compaction of a deposit therefore is less reliable for interpretation than other aspects, although it can be important for indicating extensive trample by difference of compactness at the top and bottom of layers, or pressure put upon areas of extensive use, such as on earthen floors at entrances.
The colour of deposits builds usually from the geological colour encountered on site. In London the natural mid brown brickearth is easily distinguishable, while in other places, like in Assuan, where a town was built of river mud and all deposits including the pottery are mid grey, colour will play a minor role. If the colour varies considerably the deposit was either imported or mixed with other matter. Occupation debris is usually darker than the natural colour of a site, due to the percentage of charcoal and organic waste it contains. Debris appearing in all shades from orange, red to violet brown, particularly if there is a high clay content, was usually burnt; the material could either have been part of the use of a hearth or the result of fire destruction.
The composition of a deposit depends very much on where it was formed. The interpretation is not always easy. The first consideration is how a deposit relates to the geological deposits of the area, the proportion of local, geological soil, whether it was imported or formed by weathering, flooding, decay of organic or other waste material in situ. For instance:
The more mixed a makeup deposit is in its composition, inclusions and finds, the more it has been recycled. In early towns new foundations and pits were dug into weathered natural and often makeup soil was spread to level the area. Rubbish accumulated and decayed in the yards or was transported to riverbanks. Animals were kept and gardens were laid out at the back of properties or outside towns. Buildings burnt down and their debris was broken up, redeposited or levelled, the inclusions at the surface would show particular wear. Mud-brick walls would decay to clay deposits after abandonment. The same substance may have been reused for generations, to be supplemented by imported material if necessary.
The thickness also has an important interpretative value:
The process that caused a feature to be cut and to contain its fills is regarded in sequence from the bottom upwards. Group divisions of context assemblages can only be established in relation to previous events. A cutting action could be the result of various causes of which the main ones have already been mentioned above (Chapter 2.2):
If the sides or base of the original cut appear deformed or obscured, what could have been the reason?:
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