Cut
Definition
The void created by removing earth, for example a grave shaft, a post-hole, or a ditch. A cut is always older than the fill that entered it, which is the foundation of burial sequencing.
- Field
- Forensic archaeology / stratigraphy
- Definition
- Void created by removing earth
- Examples
- Grave shaft, post-hole, ditch
- Sequencing rule
- Cut is always older than its fill
Common questions
Why does the age relationship between a cut and its fill matter in a clandestine burial investigation?+
It anchors the Harris matrix sequence: the cut must exist before anything can fill it, so establishing which layers the grave cut through and which layers filled it in fixes the burial event relative to other site activity.
How is a cut recorded if it is no longer visible as a physical void?+
Excavators identify it by tracing the interface where the fill's soil colour, texture, or compaction differs from the surrounding undisturbed matrix, then record that boundary as the cut edge in plan and section.
Related terms
- Context
- The smallest unit of stratigraphic record: a single deposit (fill, layer), a single feature (cut, pit), or a standing structure. Each context...
- 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...