Stratigraphy and Archaeology Passages
A free social sciences worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.
Stratigraphy and Archaeology Passages
A. Reading the layers
Archaeologists investigate places where people lived, worked or gathered. As time passes, soil, rubbish and building materials can accumulate in layers. In a site that has not been disturbed, an older layer is usually beneath a newer one. The study of these layers and their relationships is called stratigraphy. During an excavation, archaeologists record where each object is found. A pottery fragment in one layer might come from a different period than a stone tool in a layer below it. Objects such as bones, seeds, tools and building remains can provide clues about food, technology and daily life. The layer matters: an object removed without recording its location loses important information.
- The layer nearest the surface
- The layer beneath the others
- The layer with the largest object
- The layer with the darkest soil
B. Interpreting evidence
At a fictional riverside settlement, an excavation team records three undisturbed layers. The lowest layer contains a stone scraper and animal bones. The middle layer contains a hearth, charred seeds and pieces of handmade pottery. The upper layer contains a metal button and fragments of a glass bottle. The objects do not tell the whole story on their own. A scraper may suggest how materials were worked, while seeds can provide evidence about food. A hearth can indicate that people made fires at that place. The pottery and glass can be compared with evidence from other sites. Archaeologists use the recorded position of each find, along with other evidence, to build and check explanations about how a place changed.
- Charred seeds
- Hearth
- Stone scraper
- Glass bottle fragment
- Tools and ways of working materials
- Foods people may have eaten or grown
- Objects used in a later period at the settlement
- Evidence of a place where people made fires
C. Building a careful explanation
Stratigraphy can help establish a relative chronology: it can show that one deposit is earlier or later than another, even when it does not give an exact calendar date. Archaeologists call the rule that lower, undisturbed layers are generally older than upper layers the principle of superposition. Sites can be complicated. A later pit may cut down through older deposits, or burrowing animals and construction work may move objects. Archaeologists map layer boundaries, describe the soil and record the position of finds so they can identify such disturbances. They may compare the evidence with dating methods, environmental information and finds from other places. Different clues answer different questions: plant remains can reveal aspects of diet or farming, building foundations can show how spaces were used, and tools can provide evidence about technology. Conclusions are strongest when several kinds of evidence support them.
3 printable pages
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
About This Worksheet
Free in Kuraplan
Sign up free, grab the PDF, and customize it for your class.
Print-Ready
Formatted for standard paper. Clean layout, easy to read.
AI-Generated
Created with Kuraplan's AI, designed for real classroom use.
For Teachers & Parents
Use in classrooms, for homework, tutoring, or homeschool.
Need a custom version of this worksheet?
Kuraplan's AI generates custom worksheets in seconds — differentiated for every learner, aligned to your curriculum.
Generate Custom Worksheets — Free
