Glossary Archaeological method and dating
Archaeological context
Also called: context, find context
The exact place and circumstances in which an object was found, including its layer and associated finds, which give it most of its value as evidence.
Context covers where an object lay, what it lay in, what lay with it and how it got there. A secure or closed context, such as a sealed tomb deposit or a floor buried by a collapse, holds material deposited at one time that can be dated as a group. Disturbed contexts, such as reused tombs and pits dug through earlier layers, mix objects of different dates.
Much of what the compendium says depends on context. The terracottas at Ayia Irini were found where they had been set up around the altar, which is why the sanctuary is the standard case for how votives were deposited (Snowman Figurines). An object without a recorded context can still be dated by comparison with excavated examples, but it can no longer show how it was used or who deposited it.
Related terms
- In situ
Latin for 'in place': describes an object or structure found in the position where it was left in antiquity, undisturbed since.
- Provenience
The precise find-spot of an excavated object, recorded by site, layer and position; in this usage kept distinct from provenance, its ownership history.
- Find-spot
The place where an object was found, recorded at anything from village level to an exact position in a tomb or trench.
- Assemblage
A group of objects found together in one context, such as a tomb, pit or floor, and studied as a set.
Where it appears
- Base Ring Figurines (Astarte Type)
- Black-on-Red Ware
- Early Bronze Age Cyprus
- How Cypriot Figurines Are Classified
- Jugs (Oinochoe)
- Base Ring Bull Vessels
- Cruciform Figurines
- Horse and Rider Figurines
- Jars (Amphora)
- Plank Figures
- Society, Ritual, and Identity in Ancient Cypriot Mortuary Practice
- The Chronology of Ancient Cyprus
and 25 more compendium pages