Glossary Archaeological method and dating
In situ
Latin for 'in place': describes an object or structure found in the position where it was left in antiquity, undisturbed since.
An object recorded in situ has not been moved by later digging, ploughing, collapse or looting, so its position is itself evidence: its relation to walls, floors, bodies and other objects can be trusted. The term is also used in conservation for work carried out on a monument or mosaic without removing it.
Examples in the compendium include storage pithoi found in situ in the Late Bronze Age buildings at Apliki, a chair found almost complete and in situ at the bottom of the dromos of Tomb 79 at Salamis (Furniture), and plank figures broken in the tomb with both halves placed together, which shows the breakage happened there (Plank Figures).
Related terms
- Archaeological context
The exact place and circumstances in which an object was found, including its layer and associated finds, which give it most of its value as evidence.
- Stratigraphy
The study of the layers in which archaeological remains were deposited, used to work out which came first and what belongs together.
- Find-spot
The place where an object was found, recorded at anything from village level to an exact position in a tomb or trench.