> Ed Harris wrote:
 
 
 
> EMBATTLED COLLEAGUES:
>
> >
> >My good friend, Marley Brown, has insisted that I leave the solitude of my
> >verandah couch and the beckoning green sea and pink beaches to have a look
> >at the heated discussion ON STRATIGRAPHY on HISTARCH....
 
snip
 
> >As far as a Dan Mouer saying that I am "flat-out wrong", one can only
> >suggest that he is not in full possession, of the facts.  Too many
> >archaeological conferences have turned the flat into a distintive, perhaps
> >distinguished, buldge. And of course, I am never wrong, nor out.
> >
> >But let's not get personal, but stick to the issues.
> >
> >The fact of the matter is that archaeological data is being destroyed
> >across the board by well-meaning excavators in all areas of the world. It
> >is being destroyed by using the wrong excavation techiques and outdated
> >recording methods.
> >
> >The fact that my suggestions to Linda Derry's group received a negative
> >reaction underlines the rot in the system.
> >
> >All of you have been talking about digging: I will be waiting and reading
> >to see if one of the Harris Matrix advocates can come up with the real
> >issue in the discussion, for it is that issue against which there no
> >winning argument from the opponents of the Harris Matrix and its
> >associated methods.
> >
> >Meanwhile, back to the verandah and the cold Amstel (Light of course).
> >
> >Harris, of the Matrix
> >
 
Hiya, Ed!
 
The only facts I was possessed of were those Linda wrote in her post. And my rep
ly said, or should have been read to say: If
you said "If one can find no stratigraphy in a site one has no business digging.
" To which I said "wrong," but whether
flat-out wrong or dead wrong I don't remember.
 
As Marley knows, and I think you do, I am a Harris-Matrix-digging kind of guy. B
ut I have also had to struggle with dead- (or
flat-) uniform sandy-loam deposits containing a rough sequence of 8000-10000 yea
rs of stuff in a space of 3-4 feet, with no
stratigraphic distinctions available. If I feel that the deposits were likely to
 have been laid down over time then I will dig
them in arbitrary levels. It ain't perfect, but it's all we got.
 
Dan
 
--
Dan Mouer
"Pioneer"
http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm