Relationship (archaeology)

An archaeological relationship is the position in space and by implication, in time, of an object or context with respect to another.

Archaeological material would, to a very large extent, have been called rubbish when it was left on the site.

A gardener swept a pile of soil into a corner, laid a gravel path or planted a bush in a hole.

Each event, which may have taken a short or long time to accomplish, leaves a context, a deposit of material, on the site.

It is more useful to think of this higher or lower term as it relates to the contexts position in a Harris matrix which is a two dimensional representation of a sites formation in space and time.