Soils description Introduction Reading the soil is a critical skill for any archaeologist.

Often subtle differences in colour, texture, and composition can provide critically important information about different types of deposits. It is imperative to apply the same set of criteria and categorizations to soil descriptions rather than relying solely upon subjective terms and impressions. Soil Colour: Soil colour is determined through using the Munsell system of colour notation. A range of Munsell colour charts are bound in a vinyl covered notebook which should be treated gently and used for filling out the soils description on the context sheets. Colours are read through comparison with the colour chips in the notebook. In transcribing the colour notation, record the page number (e.g. 10YR) and then the chroma (listed on the row along the side of the page) over the hue (listed along the bottom of the page), e.g. 10YR3/4. Be sure to: measure all colour in adequate daylight- in shade, not in direct sunlight record the colour from moist soil from a freshly cleaned area if the soil colour is not uniform, also record the shades of the mottling Soil type The general texture of a soil is determined by the relative proportion of particles of different sizes which make up the soil. The particles range in size from gravel to sand to silt to clay. Generally, the texture of a soil can be determined by working a small, moist sample with the fingers. Soil size grades: Sand: Loose and clean-grained material with particles that are visible to the naked eye. Particles easily felt between the fingers. Silt: Particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye and cannot be detected individually with the fingers. Silt rubbed between the fingers feels silky. Clay: Particles are too small to be seen or felt. When moist, clay is sticky, cohesive and plastic. Common particle combinations: Loam: feels gritty in the hand but has a reasonably smooth texture and is rather plastic. The moist sediment will form a good cast and is composed of nearly equal parts of silt and sand, with about half their amounts of clay Sandy loam: contains mostly sand but has enough silt and clay to make it cohesive. Will form a cast when moist, but the cast is easily broken. A true sandy loam contains 50% sand, 30% silt, and 20% clay. Silty loam: has a slightly silky feel and forms clods when dry. The lumps are easily broken and the resulting material feels rather soft and floury. Contains at least 50% sand and silt together with about 12-25% clay. Clay loam: Fine textured deposit which readily breaks into clods or lumps that are hard when dry. Moist sediment is plastic and cohesive, containing nearly equal amounts of sand and clay. Soil texture and coherence: The way that individual grains in a soil are held together is known as coherence. For loamy, silty, or clayey soil, take a sample of moist soil between the thumb and forefinger and apply pressure. For sands, observe the average size of particles. Loams, silt, and clay: Silty: crumbles under light pressure Friable: crumbles under moderate pressure Sticky: sticks to the fingers and barely crumbles Plastic: does not crumble at all, more like Play-Doh (!) in texture Sands range from granular (composed of extremely small particles) to gravelly (composed of particles over 2mm in diametre). Fine, medium, and coarse are acceptable descriptions. Inclusions Any element forming less than 10% should be referred to as an inclusion. A chart for determining percentages is outlined below. 43 Chart to assist in the determination of soil type. 44 Chart to assist in determining percentages of inclusions. 45 Describing cuts Shape in plan: Describe the shape in plan: circular, oval, square, rectangular, sub-rectangular, kidney-shaped, regular or irregular. 1

Corners: Are the corners rounded or angular? Profile: U-shaped/Vshaped/etc Base: Is it even or uneven? Is it pointed or flat? If it is a stakehole try to discern the shape of the wood. Chisel point/pencil point/flat bottomedOrientation: Is there a difference between the width and length of the feature or is it a linear feature, give the orientation. If it is a posthole or stakehole, give the relationship between the base and top. Truncated by: Is it truncated by a later feature? If so, what? Can you discern or postulate on the original shape? Break of slope top: Sharp/Gradual/Not Perceptible Slope: Vertical/Steep/Gently sloping Break of slope base: Sharp/Gradual/Not perceptible. Inclination of axis: If it is a stakehole or posthole, which direction and at what angle does it project? This information is directly related to extrapolating the shape of a superstructure. Describing structure Form: Is it a wall, drain, foundation, repair, etc? Size of material: Note the size and range of the material. Number of courses: How many courses make up the context? Finish: Is it finished/faced roughly, with regular coursing, with cut stone, with roughly cut stone or Ashlar. Material: Is it built of stone, bricks, block, etc? Tool Marks: Are there any local tool marks evident on the construction material? Bonding: Has any bonding material been used in the construction. Describe it. Faces: How many faces does it have and which directions do they face? Rendering: Is there any rendering material? Describe it. Archaeological Photography Photographs represent an essential element of any site archive, and also serve as the principal means of conveying the practice and results of any excavation to the public. Record shots are taken of each archaeological context, while working shots are taken systematically during the course of the excavation. Preparing for record shots is a time-consuming but absolutely necessary process. All visible surfaces should be carefully trowelled to ensure maximum visibility of features and interfaces. Roots should be clipped, and masonry and stones brushed. All extraneous material should be out of the photograph, for example Coke cans, wellies, clipboards, pencils, gloves, hats, brushes, buckets trowels and other peoples feet! Every photograph should have a scale and a north arrow. The first image taken on each camera should also include a menu board to identify the site, unit, context, direction, and date. The board and the north arrow should be placed parallel to the camera view. All photographs are recorded in the Photo Log book. Photographs will be taken employing black and white film, colour slide film, and digital file. Cameras should be handled carefully and with clean hands only!! Drawing contexts in plan and in section: Plan drawings are measured recordings of a context or contexts viewed from above. Generally, contexts are planned at a scale of 1:20 following a set of standard drawing conventions. All plan drawings receive a unique drawing number assigned by the drawings technician or another member of staff. It is imperative that information about the context, recorder, date and plan number are recorded on a label which is placed on the drawing. All measured plan and section drawings are made on drawing film, which is placed on a drawing board over lined graph paper. When a field drawing is complete, it is removed from the board and carefully rolled up. All drawings will be inked-in in the laboratory for permanent archival storage and publication. 47 Section and elevation drawings will be made of any sectioned feature, the edges of excavation areas, and architectural features such as walls. The appropriate scale used will depend upon the size of the section; however, all feature drawings should be produced at 1:10. Again, please use standard drawing conventions as illustrated. When writing a title block, please follow the relevant order outlined below. The title block should be written in the top left hand corner of the sheet in block letters) e.g. c.2-3mm high). The plan and section number should be duplicated in larger print (c.10mm high), in the top right-hand corner. Please, try to write legibly and remember that often what you are creating a record of will be destroyed.