Today’s blog is somewhat whimsical, but definitely still
informative about important matters of archaeology. It’s also an excuse to make
cake.
In archaeology, whenever we dig into the ground we are
looking for artefacts from the past. However, we also want to know when these
artefacts date to, and how different artefacts relate to each other throughout
time. One of the ways that archaeologists do this is through soil.
This is known as stratigraphy, which is a term from geology.
The underlying principle is that in one generation to the next, soil gets
treated in different ways (e.g. an era of heavy rain will leave different soil
to a dry era), and so time creates layers in the soil - different colours and
consistencies. Archaeologists use these changes in the soil to delineate time
periods.
When digging a site, archaeologists take great care to
faithfully depict the layers of stratigraphy in order to correctly sequence the
site, and any artefacts found. This sequence is mapped out in a Harris Matrix,
which shows how the soils relate to each other, like a soil timeline.[1]
So, I’ve made a cake that has these layers, although sadly there
are no artefacts buried inside (but there are smarties).
That’s five layers of “soil” (three sponge, two buttercream),
and grass (with worms) on top.
The idea of the stratigraphy cake is not new, and many
people have already done it much better than I have here (a quick internet
search will show you several mouth-watering examples). However, it was
definitely a cake-day here in Cambridge, and it tastes great.
But wait! I hear you cry. Surely you can’t have cake without
a nice cup of tea? And anyway, it’s in the title for this week’s post. You’d be
correct, of course. Any good archaeologist loves a good cup of tea, and it’s
really the only way to start the day, especially when you’re out on dig and
have possibly just woken up in a tent.
Another tool that archaeologists use in relation to soil is
the Munsell colour system, which classifies colours in terms of hue, value, and
chroma. It allows archaeologists to offer a consistent and quantifiable definition
for each colour, meaning that someone else can understand what context they are
talking about, without any confusion about colour perception.
Another beautiful thing about the colour chart is that the
colours of soils correspond with the colours of tea. So if you like milky tea,
you can specify an exact colour higher up on the scale when instructing someone
how to make your tea. The lower colours may perhaps correspond to a mug of
rich, dark cocoa.
In other words, all archaeology, and soil, is basically just
tea and cake (and maybe coffee, or cocoa). Now you can teach your
friends/spouse/children/minions to create your perfect cup of tea by pinning up
a Munsell colour chart in your kitchen. Easy.
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