Standard geological methods used on archaeological problems

Authors

• P. Nørnberg
• M. A. Courty

Abstract

This paper presents some examples of geological methods applied to archaeological problems. The site is an Iron Age village at Heltborg, Thy, Northern Denmark. The very thick layer of occupation material found in this and other Iran Age villages in the area seems to come from the accumulation of grass turf walls of the houses. This explanation can be confirmed by the geological methods. The boundary between a brownish and a more gray horizon in the occupation material can be explained as a redox boundary. As such it is not related to any archaeological event and in fact crosses the archaeological horizons in the material. Micramorphological methods were used, especially on samples from a burnt house. Here it was possible to identify the floor material as till and to identify wattle and daub material. lt proved possible even to give a likely estimation of the appearance of the wall and the technique used in preparing the inside of the house.