5 Cm Spit Excavation
Definition
The standard forensic burial excavation unit: fill is removed in horizontal layers of 5 centimetres or less, each spit separately bagged and sieves for small finds. The protocol ensures that small bones and associated material at each depth level are not mixed with material from other levels.
- Layer thickness
- 5 cm or less per spit
- Field
- Forensic archaeological excavation
- Handling
- Each spit bagged separately and sieved
Common questions
Why remove fill in such thin layers instead of digging faster?+
Thin, controlled layers preserve the vertical sequence of the grave fill. If material from different depths gets mixed during removal, it becomes far harder to reconstruct the burial sequence or associate a find with its correct depth later.
What is the sieving step actually for?+
Sieving each spit separately catches small items, such as bone fragments, teeth, shell casings or personal effects, that would be missed by eye during excavation, while keeping them tied to the correct depth layer.
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