Context
Definition
The smallest unit of stratigraphic record: a single deposit (fill, layer), a single feature (cut, pit), or a standing structure. Each context gets its own number and a dedicated recording sheet.
- Field
- Archaeological stratigraphy
- Definition
- Smallest unit of stratigraphic record
- Examples
- A deposit, a cut/feature, or a standing structure
- Recording
- Each gets its own number and dedicated sheet
Common questions
How is a context different from a layer in everyday archaeological language?+
Layer is often used loosely for any horizontal deposit, while context is the formal recording unit and can also describe a cut, a pit, a wall, or any other discrete stratigraphic event, deposited or cut, that has its own place in the site's sequence, whether or not it looks like a simple layer.
Why does forensic archaeology at a clandestine burial site rely on the context system?+
Treating the grave cut, the backfill, and any disturbed natural soil as separate numbered contexts lets investigators establish the sequence of digging, deposition, and infilling, which supports conclusions about how and when the burial occurred and whether the ground was disturbed more than once.
Related terms
- Cut
- The void created by removing earth, for example a grave shaft, a post-hole, or a ditch. A cut is always older than...
- Fill
- Material that entered a cut after it was made, whether backfilled deliberately, slumped from the sides, or accumulated naturally. A grave typically...
- Harris Matrix
- A two-dimensional directed graph in which each box is a single context and connecting lines represent stratigraphic relationships. Vertical position encodes temporal...
- Natural
- The undisturbed geological or pedogenic deposit that predates any human activity at the site. Identifying where 'natural' begins is how excavators establish...
- Phasing
- The grouping of contexts into episodes of activity based on the Harris Matrix sequence. A grave may have a single phase (dug...