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of the sediments, especially those in the three ditches, appear to have
been produced by the gradual build up of dumped everyday rubbish and windblown
silt and sand. Techniques such as soil micromorphology
and macroplant analysis will, in conjunction with the analysis of the pottery
and coarse stone tools, be used to piece together a picture of what rubbish
was being disposed of in the ditches. For example if, as suspected, some
of this material turns out to be ash from a domestic hearth we might learn
what the people ate and what fuel (wood, peat or animal dung) they used.
Other techniques such as analysis of insects, waterlogged plant material
and diatoms will allow us to reconstruct the micro-environment of the ditches.
For example, we may be able to determine whether the ditches had water in
them for most of the year and whether the site was occasionally flooded
by brackish estuarine waters. We may also find out whether damp loving plants
we allowed to grow at the bottom of the ditches or whether the ditches were
kept clean.
Other sediments, such
as the sand packing around posts of the roundhouses, may contain the odd
burnt seed or burnt chaff, which may have fallen from the hearth and subsequently
pushed down beside the post as the floor was swept clean. Again analysis
of these will help us to understand the local economy of the site.
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