In archaeology
context is used as a technical term referring to the remains of an individual
stratigraphic event. Contexts, therefore, are events in time which have been preserved in the
archaeological record. The
cutting of a pit or ditch in the past is a context, whilst the material filling it will be another. Multiple
fills, seen as layers in
archaeological section would mean multiple contexts. Structural
features, natural deposits and
inhumations are also contexts. By separating a site into these basic, discrete units, archaeologists are able to create a chronology for activity on a site and describe and interpret it.
Artifacts in the main are not treated as contexts but belonging of them. Contexts can be referred to positive or negative depending on whether their formation added or removed material from the
archaeological record. Negative contexts are
cuts. It can not be stressed too strongly how fundamentally important the concept of context is in modern archaeological practice.
Context is the prevalent term among English-speaking archaeologists but the terms
locus and
stratigraphic unit may also be used.