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Archaeological Stratigraphy: The Law of Superposition

Dig a real 3D excavation trench layer by layer. See how the Law of Superposition orders undisturbed soil layers by age, and how a cross-cutting intrusion like a burial pit breaks the simple rule -- the same relative-dating logic archaeologists use before any lab test.

Palaeontology & Evolutionary Geology3DEasy60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted

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 simulator builds a real 3D excavation trench 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.

⚙ Under the hood

Dig a real 3D excavation trench layer by layer and see the Law of Superposition order undisturbed soil layers by age -- then switch on a burial-pit intrusion to watch the Principle of Cross-Cutting Relations override simple depth.

archaeologystratigraphygeologyexcavationrelative datinghistory

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install