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152 ÖRESUNDSFÖRBINDELSEN OCH ARKEOLOGIN
Since topsoil archaeology was not one of the methods used in the preliminary
inquiries, the choice of sites for investigation had to be based on general
surveys conducted specifically for this project. In every case I assume that
features were originally found not only on settlement sites or activity areas;
there would also have been man-made depositions which would have been
described as occupation layers if they had been preserved. By comparing the
interpretation we obtain by analysing the extent of the features with the interpretation
yielded by finds in the topsoil, we can draw conclusions about settlement
site activities and the extent of settlement sites.
The find movement above all caused by ploughing means that in spatial
analyses one must accept that the method is fairly crude. The studies that have
been performed in the fully tilled landscape have shown that ploughing does
not spread the finds to such an extent that settlement sites and activity areas
cannot be identified. The method works for demarcating settlement sites and
activity areas on larger sites but is less suitable for demarcating small settlement
sites or small activity areas such as houses. It should however be possible to
investigate sites with just one chronological phase and many finds with interpretable
artefacts, even if their area is very small. To what extent the finds have
been moved in the tilled soil seems to vary greatly from one place to another.
The studies of the topsoil have shown that there are considerable amounts of
flint, and in several cases it has been found that the frequency of finds in the
topsoil exceeds that in the features. On the other hand, far fewer tools were
found in topsoil than in features. A general observation is that finds from
features and from topsoil differ so much qualitatively and quantitatively that
the interpretations are different depending on which material one analyses. The
distribution of flint in the topsoil can also give a different and more complex
picture of the extent of settlement sites and activity areas.
Fossil fields
Based on the problem as formulated above, it was suggested that a number of
long, narrow topsoil sections should be established. The choice of areas was
made after field inspection, steered by observations of microtopographical
differences and other topography. The sections were documented on a scale of
1:20. The topsoil sections were digitized and provided with different scales for
height and length. This exaggerates differences in level, besides making the
sections easier to handle.
The results show that it is possible in a fully tilled landscape to document
traces of fossil fields which in one case could be dated to the transition from the
Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. The fossil arable land that has been documented
consists of lynchets, basin-shaped arable fields, and ridge and furrow. More
systematic documentation of the topsoil in the investigation areas of Svågertorp
8A–C, Petersborg 6, and Lockarp 7A–B would probably have been able to
result in the identification of larger continuous areas of fossil field.
There are considerable problems of source criticism with topsoil archaeology.
A major problem is that the settlement sites in south-west Scania rarely
represent a single phase. This means that it is difficult to separate different
chronological phases when it comes to flint refuse, which is by far the predominant
category of find.