www.ads.tuwien.ac.at/ArchEd/ provides free downloadable software to create (and color) a Harris Matrix. I have never used a Harris Matrix, probably because I've never felt I had stratigraphy complex enought to warrant it (although, as I write this sentence, I can immediately think of at least two situations in which it might have been handy). Instead, I rely on verbage, at which my colleagues assure me I am proficient. Hmmm . . .
Thanks to Carl for the reference to the Munsell site. That could be very useful. One only has to work with another stratigraher in the field to understand Carl's parenthetical remark. When drawing strata in the field, I rarely use symbols, shading, or colors, as I find they get smeared and confusing, and are rarely standardizable, even in my own drawings (read, mea culpa). I find it most efficient to simply label the strata and refer to strata forms that are filled out at the same time and provide the relevant data. Later, sometimes, our report production office will, using Illustrator or PhotoShop, insert symbolic "fill" or shading in the report-ready figures. It does make the figures more pleasing for the final report, but since the symbols or shades are not actually standardized, they are usually meaningless in terms of the information conveyed, and, instead, reflect artistic and editorial sensibilities.
It strikes me that I have now indicted myself for, and confessed to, a certain methodological sloppiness when it comes to standardized stratigraphic recording. In my own defense, I have, for several years, taken opportunities to apprentice myself to an archaeologically-trained geomorphologist in order to improve my understanding and recording of sediments and soils, and have, according to my mentor, made considerable progress. So, my thanks to Geoff for bringing up this subject, because it has pointed out the next direction for my learning and improvement. I would like to know more from folks who routinely use the Harris Matrix about its strengths and weaknesses in stratigraphic recording and interpretation.
My own parenthetical note: anthropology departments -- in their archaeological methods classes -- and archaeological field schools should spend much more time teaching students about recognizing and describing soils, sediments, and archaeological strata. Looking (way) back, that was a major failing of the programs in which I participated, and, based on what I see among many of my colleagues and our younger crew members, it hasn't changed. And yet, as Michael Schiffer told us years ago, recognizing and describing formation processes are critical if we are to actually understand the site we're digging, much less the information we gather from it.
Humbly yours,
Jeff
Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Office of Archaeological Studies
P.O. Box 2087
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
tel: 505.827.6343
fax: 505.827.3904
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of geoff carver
Sent: Fri 10/14/2005 5:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: stratigraphy/documentation
rereading o'brien & lyman's "seriation, stratigraphy & index fossils" i realised they don't mention or even reference harris or the harris matrix (altho they do cite adrian praetzelis' article in harris' "practices" book)
how wide-spread is use of the harris matrix &/or his theories of stratigraphic theory in the US?
also: does anyone colour their plan/profile drawings using pencil crayons? & if so, do they try for naturalistic colours, or use some form of abstract code or hatching to represent soil texture/composition?
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