kevin wooldridge Wrote:Except that the pot in question doesn't date the layer in which it is contained. It provides the TPQ for the layer below and the TAQ for the layer above. Very important distinction.....
It's Friday and I'm tired and befuddled, but are your TPQs and TAQs right...?
But totally agree with the general principle - we should never think a piece of pot from a context dates our site or even that context. Indeed a piece of pottery on its own is pretty useless.
What we're hopefully using is a range of relitive and possibly absolute dates derived from different sources, sometimes including scientific dating. It is these dates, combined with the excavation strategraphic data and possibly historical/documentary data (often sadly overlooked) that helps us frame and phase a site and give a possible date range for a site and its features.