Archaeology

[hc4361]

How does all the stuff they find get buried in the first place? I can understand objects but not foundations, floors and walls. It seems the earth grows a new layer every few years - I know it doesn't.

How does what should be on top end up underneath?

[rowanwitch]

Mostly its layers of rubbish filling in old ditches, changes of use ploughing things in or yes a thin extra layer of soil forming each year as the vegetation grows/gies decays/traps dust/ gets fertiliser added etc small items can be moved by the action of living things burrowing in the soil... eg a small coin could drop into a moles tunnel

[ChuckFickens]

"It seems the earth grows a new layer every few years - I know it doesn't."

It does. (well not grow, but rocks etc get eroded which causes dirt and sand which eventually covers things up)

[hc4361]

Thanks both. I can't imagine what they'll be digging up in a thousand years.

[rowanwitch]

Probably plactic carrier bags full of coke bottles and polystyrene burger boxes
Primark and claires accessories jewellry and numerous weopons from the bottom of disused canals... Also Jubilee and Keep calm and Carry on mugs mugs

[hc4361]

You forgot the disposable nappies, rowan. All very grim.

[rowanwitch]

Sad that we will not be judged by our art but by our rubbish...

[jno]

everything you've ever written on AB will be pootling around the universe somewhere, even if the AB lamasery is buried under 50 feet of guano.

Future historians will access it to find out what underwear 21st-century brides wore.

[rowanwitch]

ooooh bugger... what's more to the point they will think we were a society with a sort of Anti owl cult ....not good

[hc4361]

That is true, jno - but isn't it great that in a thousand years time everyone will be able to see their ancestors photos and read their facebook pages.

[heathfield]

From the history.org website...

"One of the questions most frequently asked of archaeologists is "how do artifacts (or foundations, walkways, etc.) become buried so far underground?" The answer is not that the artifacts sink, but that the ground builds up in layers, or strata, over time. In cross section, the soil resembles a layer cake, with the oldest layers on the bottom and more recent deposits on top. The accumulated layers of soil are the site's stratigraphy.

The accumulation of soil is a natural process that results from the disintegration of organic material such as grass and leaves, and the deposit of blowing dust. Cultural activities also play a role in creating soil layers. Household waste such as ashes from kitchen fires, food remains, and broken glass and ceramics contribute to the accumulation of stratigraphic layers."

[hc4361]

Thank you, Heathfield. Very informative.

[Mosaic]

A healthy population of earthworms will add about a foot of soil to a site over a century. Now, you've got rain and wind and animals taking some of that soil away, but plants growing in the soil will also add an additional layer of humus. Wind-blown debris may also add to the mix. So there y'go.

[Toureman]

It also does the opposite whan strata is brought up to the surface by wave erosion and high winds in sandy 0r fine earth areas.

[Graham-W]

I made a footpath down our garden about 25 years ago. I don't cut along the edges of the path except a run over the top with my lawnmower. Said path has now almost disappeared except where we walk on it.
If Tony and crew want to come and explore it they are welcome.

[joko]

i suppose severe weather moves earth around a bit, floods too

if people then leave, and no-one is there to tend to it, plants grow, which also catches earth in winds and floods and it just builds up... then when the actual building falls, same thing happen... the bricks etc catch the moving earth

perhaps also some recycled usable timber and bricks to build other things - but didnt bother to dig up foundations etc

items get dumped in holes or trampled down too

[percypineapple]

The soil on sides of hills slowly moves down the hill, covering old houses etc. also vibration from minor earth tremors causes things to sink and settle. This is moreso on soft soils, but on chalk, such as the south downs, there is only a few inches of soil, then solid chalk, so stuff 100's of years old stay near the surface. I found ( with a metal detector) a bronze age axe head, 3000 years old, about 3" down on beachy head. and, amazingly, there was a chalk/rockfall some years ago and the skeleton of a wooly mammoth came down with the chalk. that was a million years old old more, but I think that got buried because of the ice age, not just standing there slowly sinking.
percy.

[jake-the-peg]

Some of the most valuable archeological evidence has come from ancient rubbish heaps especially in Egypt.

Consider for example dating of finds - often done by pottery styles which may be in style for hundreds of years - our waste changes in fashion yearly, if not weekly archeologists will be able to date things very very precisely.

The great risk is all our w=knowledge will be on media that they can't read.

Anyone still got a 5¼" floppy drive? those were only 20-30 years ago

[ChuckFickens]

"Anyone still got a 5¼" floppy drive?"

Yep, and the BBC model B to attach it to.

[Old_Geezer]

I've often wondered this too. I see rain and snow falling from the sky, but rarely dirt. Maybe I just don't appreciate the long time periods involved but it still seem weird. I reckon it's the faerie folk burying stuff when we aren't looking.

[Old_Geezer]

I have video tapes I either need to convert to DVD or lose. Problem is that kit for older media can be expensive. I see dedicated bits of kit for copying photos, for example, that only do one or a few formats, and given you'll use it one or few times, is difficult to justify the cost.