I work in sand or sandy soils all the time as that is what Western Australia
is built of. 

If it is a sandy soil then you should not have too much trouble excavating
down 40 cm. 

If it is beach sand I suggest you step your excavation down every 10-15 cm
(depth depends on how loose your sand is and your excavation question
requirements) so that you start off excavating a bigger area then you want
and narrow it down to the target area. This is the method I used at the
Knight & Shenton store site at Cossack. It eliminates the problem of side
wall collapse, gives good plan view but does not give you wall sections to
draw.

Regards

Gaye Nayton

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Katherine Hull
Sent: Tuesday, 16 October 2012 11:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Excavation strategy

Good afternoon, folks. Just looking for a little professional advice. We
will be starting an excavation at the base of the bluffs and along the sandy
beach of Lake Ontario. Does anyone have any tips re: working in pure sand?
Our usual approach would be 1x1m test units, but we are wondering if
trenching (hand-dug, of course) might be a better plan. Vertical control of
the artifact locations is not imperative as these are secondary deposits at
the very best. I see depths of deposits being minimal, perhaps 40 cm at the
most.  
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
(at least screening will be a breeze!)
Thanks,
Katie Hull