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Modern ploughing disturbs archaeological contexts, bringing cultural material such as pottery and bone to the surface. The collection and recording of this material in space is called systematic surface collection. The data provide good overview of different areas of the site, even in the absence of excavation data.

Above: A high resolution (4×4 m squares) surface collection strategy – gridded transect collection – is used in the cemetery area to  identify the small and low density features such as burial clusters.

Below: When plotted in space, the contents of each individual collection square provides a picture of the location and extent of burial clusters.

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