VIKING UNST PROJECT: FIELD SEASON 2008 - Nabo

[176]. The identification of microlamination features caused by packing and trampling ofmaterial would confirm if this deposit was an occupation surface or an ash dump.Two Kubiena samples were collected from the excavations of House 1, Hamar during the2008 season, summarised in table 4.2:Sample number Context Description1272 287/306 The upper and lower fills of the channelfeature within the southern doorway of thelower room1296 399/421/422/388 A sample through possible occupationsurfaces within the northern area of the upperroom.Table 4.2: Summary of the samples collected from Hamar for assessment using soilmicromorphologyIn the upper room at Hamar House 1, where a substantial depth of archaeology remained,micromorphological sampling focused on the presence of a possible occupation surface inthe northern area of the room. A rabbit burrow had cut through the deposits, exposing thesequence of deposits as well as the bedrock at the base of the burrow. This section wascleaned and sampled for soil micromorphology (SF1272). The deposits cut by the rabbitburrow included (from the top to the base of the sequence):• [399] - a mid brown layer containing large fragments of charcoal• [421] – a brown ashy layer• [422] – a red ash layer associated with burnt bedrock• [388] – the natural bedrock within this area of the site.The deposits from this area formed a coherent sequence of different ashy deposits that postdatedthe formation of context [422], a potential ashy occupation surface, which in turndirectly sealed the natural bedrock in this area. Microstructural analysis of these contexts,particularly the identification of microlamination features caused by packing and tramplingof material, may confirm the nature of context [422]. In addition, information can beobtained regarding the makeup of these deposits, and thus the nature of activity upon thesesurfaces.During the 2007 excavation season a number of Kubiena samples were collected from thelower room to investigate the generally homogeneous deposits that infilled the room.Samples were also collected from the channel feature that ran down the centre of thestructure and under the southern doorway (McKenzie 2007; 81). An addition sample wascollected from the infill of the channel feature during the 2008 season, sampling materialwithin the southern doorway that had not been removed during the previous season. Twocontexts were sampled and related to the ashy fills of the channel: contexts [287] and [306].Micromorphological samples were obtained from both contexts in order to investigate the59