Day Eighteen

Soil Samples of our unit

Today Chen taught us more about documenting and recording our soil layers. Detailed records are extremely important in archaeology so we have to be meticulous in our documentation.

In our daily recording of every spit, we would record the soil colour using the standardised Munsell Soil Colour Chart. Today, we revisited the soil samples we had acquired over the past two weeks from every spit and learnt how to identify the soil types.

We went over the soil colour again, as the colour might differ slightly since it could have been damp when we recorded it onsite. I learnt that it would be great if we also indicated if the soil colour was determined under very strong sunlight or not so strong sunlight, for better accuracy.

We learnt how to describe the soil; if there were any organic matter, such as roots, or shells, and if so, how big these organic matter were. Instead of describing them as tiny, or medium, which is subjective and not very helpful to another person reading the recordings, we should have a standardised measure. Also we learnt how to identify if the soil was sandy and granular, or silty, or clayey. Documentation of soil layers are very important because it provides us with the context of where the artefacts were found.

In the evening, we had our end of excavation party to thank all our wonderful helpers. It was a great party with lots of yummy Indonesian food, good fun and magic tricks by Michael which our friends thoroughly enjoyed.

We are also extremely thankful to Ibu Naniek, Pak Sonny and Pak Sarji for procuring the food for the party, organising it and making sure everyone had a good time.

The wonderful spread

Our friends who have been helping us tirelessly at the excavation

Love,
Christabel