The end of the week is approaching and we all need a few moments of relaxation. A hike in the mountains, a swim in the sea, a picnic in a cool forest or... a slice of cake! But what does the cake have to do with archeology?!

Archaeologists are obviously not confectioners, but there is a similarity between the layers of fruit, cream, meringue and fluffy top, of different colors and textures, of a cake. In addition to these are the layers of earth, burnt wood or stone that have been deposited over time on the objects and constructions of antiquity.
The archaeologist is tasked with identifying, documenting, and painstakingly removing all the layers that overlap the ancient remains, but in the opposite sense of assembling a cake. One by one, from top to bottom, the layers corresponding to several historical eras reveal the story of an archaeological site or historical monument.

This means stratigraphy in short: the study of a slice of the cake of past times. It is one of the most important methods of the archaeologist because, if the information is collected and interpreted correctly, the specialist can know the sequence in time of the layers of the earth.

All levels in the ground, whether we are talking about a thin band of ash from a house fire, the yellow layer of clay that forms the floor of a house, or the stones in the foundation of an ancient road, represent the traces of human actions, of events that they happened at different points in time. Archaeologists call them archaeological contexts, we generally call them facts.

The stratigraphy is read by the archaeologist not only vertically but also horizontally. Just as a settlement evolves from the bottom up by adding one or more building phases, so does the settlement evolve horizontally, from a village with just a few houses to a large urban settlement, for example. Here's how a slice of cake can reveal a slice of our history! Stay with us in the coming weeks for more sweet moments, but… sugar free!