18th September 2013, 09:26 AM
How about prentice that once all you have left is plough soil that what ever it has in it should be ignored by archaeologists. What I mean is that you have to show, from a trench or two that no archaeological contexts remain isolated below the plough soil and that the plough soil has no stratification. I would suggest then all artefacts left in it amount to the lowest form of archaeological evidence that can be imagined, apart from an area that has been mined into natural, and that this evidence should be considered irredeemable as it is not relatable to context. We still get to put a trench in it but what ever you find in it including treasure is worthless and you can keep them as swopsies.
Reason: your past is my past