23rd December 2008, 02:48 PM
I am not convinced that there is a place for Munsell charts in fieldwork at all. I'm sure that if a study were carried out, there would be a significant degree of inter-observer error.
And really, how precise do we *need* to be with our descriptions of colour on context sheets? It all depends on lighting/ moisture/ extent to which the deposit has weathered since being exposed, and what does colour really tell anyone anyway? Sure something like vivianite or a gley deposit might not be recorded as such by an inexperienced digger, and so it's good for the supervisor to see 'blue' on a context sheet and take a look, but does anyone really care if your brown is a 10 YR 3/4 or 10 YR 3/3.
And really, how precise do we *need* to be with our descriptions of colour on context sheets? It all depends on lighting/ moisture/ extent to which the deposit has weathered since being exposed, and what does colour really tell anyone anyway? Sure something like vivianite or a gley deposit might not be recorded as such by an inexperienced digger, and so it's good for the supervisor to see 'blue' on a context sheet and take a look, but does anyone really care if your brown is a 10 YR 3/4 or 10 YR 3/3.