22 BASICPRINCIPLES – MAKING THEMOST OF THECLUES
Information about botanical material has survived
in some surprising ways. Imprints of grain and leaves
have survived on ceramic vessels. Some of these im-
pressions are so clear that the type of plant can be easily
identified.
Micro-organisms: Micro-organisms, or microbes, in-
clude the bacteria and algae of the plant kingdom, the
protozoa and viruses of the animal kingdom, and others
which have some characteristics of both kingdoms (e.g.
fungi). With the exception of viruses and a few other exam-
ples, micro-organisms, like plants and animals, consist of
cells (unicellular and multicellular). Micro-organisms can
survive in the archaeological record in a number of ways
dependent on the nature of the organism’s construction
(some produce a resilient hard shell) and the nature of
the burial deposit.
Diatoms are microscopic unicellular or colonial algae
with a silicaceous cell wall. They occur profusely in all moist
and aquatic habitats in freshwater, brackish and marine
environments. The study of diatoms in archaeology can
yield information such as the nature of the environment,
formation of different deposits and differing levels of
salinity through time (Battarbee, 1988). Foraminifera are
unicellular animals which secrete a test or skeleton. They
are mainly marine benthic or planktonic forms, in which
there is a considerable morphological variation, from
a single, flask shape to complex chambered examples.
Foraminifera are important zone fossils that can survive
in a range of sediment types, providing information
about changes of environment over time (e.g. variations
in salinity in rivers and estuaries).
LINKS BETWEEN CATEGORIES
OF EVIDENCE
Although a convenient way of thinking about the elements
of a site, the categories of evidence do in fact merge with
one another. A ship’s hull is an object that combines
artefactual and ecofactual information. Sediments can
form part of the contents of the hull (e.g. ballast or bilge
deposits). Sediments can also provide the evidence of
structure that has long since decayed or been dug out for
re-use (Adams, 1985). The contents and structure of the
site can, like the sediments, show changes in the forma-
tion of the site over time. For example, the evidence of
differential erosion of timber can often reveal past
sequences of exposure and burial.
The types of evidence mentioned above will not all be
present in every case. What should be remembered is that
any investigation should involve the study and recording
(see chapter 8) of all the surviving strands of evidence
on an archaeological site. In the past, too much attention
has been paid to the easily recognizable human-made
objects. This is generally at the expense of the sometimes
less glamorous, but equally important clues that often need
a greater level of expertise to collect.USING THE EVIDENCE
Once all the different clues have been collected and
recorded, the next stage is to attempt to make sense of
it all. This can be achieved if the clues are studied in a
systematic and disciplined manner. Often methods of
extracting information from archaeological material are
adapted and adopted from other disciplines. This book
cannot list all the techniques used in archaeology but
by introducing some of the main techniques of ‘getting
answers’ it can at least demonstrate what a broad-based
discipline archaeology is. The methods conveniently split
into: where (position and association), what (recogni-
tion, description and typology), how (context) and when
(dating).Position and association: Archaeologists are generally
studying complicated elements that may have been used
together. They therefore need to know where they were
(their position) and what they were with (their associations).
It would be extremely difficult to make sense of complex
structures without an accurate plan and a description of
the position and association of the various elements (see
chapter 14).
In looking for clues about the past, the archaeologist
has to make do with where things ended up; where they
slid, fell, were carried or washed. It is vital, however, to
record the position and associations for each clue so that
archaeologists can attempt to determine where they orig-
inated and how they ended up in their final location.Recognition, description and typology: How does an
archaeologist identify what he/she has found? Some evid-
ence will be immediately understood because it is within
the archaeologist’s own experience (e.g. ‘I recognize that
object as a sword’). Some clues cannot easily be identi-
fied because they are not immediately visible or because
the particular analytical technique being employed is not
suited to revealing them. In other situations, clues are
not exploited simply because they are not recognized as
being clues. Recognitionhas to be a co-operative process
in which good communication, by publication as well as
personal contact, is vital (see chapter 20).
The physical remains of the past are so complex that
no one person has sufficient knowledge and experience
to deal with every type of clue that is available. In fact the
necessary specialist knowledge and techniques may not even
be present in a team of researchers, but they are available