Archaeological Stratigraphy 2D: Cross-Section Excavation

Before any radiocarbon date or artifact typology, an archaeologist's first tool for telling old from young is entirely physical: the order the ground was laid down in. This 2D cross-section simulator draws a real excavation trench profile with 5–8 distinct soil layers, each holding one artifact, and only lets you remove the currently topmost exposed unit — enforcing the Law of Superposition the same way a real dig does. Switch on the burial-pit intrusion to see the Principle of Cross-Cutting Relations in action: a feature dug down through older layers is always excavated and dated as the youngest event in the sequence, regardless of how deep it reaches. Drag to pan and scroll to zoom the profile like a real site drawing.