SELECTION PROCEDURES

In order to address the detailed and specific aims of the dating programme, all potentially datable material from the Monument was scrutinised to ensure that:

  1. the context in which the sample was found could be securely identified;

  2. the sample was directly associated with the event or phase in question;

  3. the material was suitable for reliable scientific analysis;

  4. enough similar material remains in the archive to allow future researchers to repeat our work.

The concentric nature of the main Monument and the inadequacy of the recording of many of the relationships which did exist, leads to a shortage of direct stratigraphic relationships between different elements. Consequently the importance of targeting samples where such relative chronological relationships do exist was recognised.

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