Posthole archaeology

Many medieval settlements have been excavated in the southern parts of the Netherlands and adjacent regions in recent decades. Although much attention is usually devoted to the pottery and botanical remains recovered from the postholes of the buildings, the formation processes of these finds remain obscure. This contribution examines why some postholes contain more finds than others. Some general assumptions were formulated and then evaluated with the use of simple statistics. It appears that not all of the common-sense assumptions can be retained and that the formation processes in postholes are not yet fully understood.