Day 18 – domestic land use

The finds emerging from both trenches are consistent with a domestic themed land use. The quantity of charcoal, earthen ware sherds and metallurgical debris suggest that this is not an area in which industrial scale processes were conducted; many finds of the middle and upper contexts may be reflective of a scatter of domestic refuse accumulating during occupation.  One limitation of the current suite of evidence may be the small number of diagnostic finds, such as pot rims.   Considering this, above what threshold may a statistically significant appraisal of finds occur with confidence?   As such, to what extent can these finds be used in characterising human activity and its phases?    These questions are considered during pre-excavation, where the site directors select the area and dimensions for the placement of the two trenches, positioned to yield the most relevant archaeology to fit the research brief.   During post excavation the ceramic material excavated can be considered using multivariate analysis, which may be used to investigate a number of different variables including decoration, nature of temper, clay composition and location.  This may discover whether there maybe any relationships between variables, from which inferences can be dawn regarding their function, the manufacture and the nature of their consumption by society.     Many of the ceramic sherds that have been excavated thus far, have been characterised as proto Black Burnished Ware.   In looking at the temper it is possible to ascribe a cautious estimation of age and provenance. A particularly coarse tempered proto Black Burnished Ware, that is irregular in its inclusions, is likely to be earlier in date compared to a finer and more evenly distributed tempered pot sherd. From this, it is possible to infer that the production process became more technologically refined through time, from coil shaping to the later wheel thrown editions.