ABSTRACT
In the face of all this, the excavator must, after the lifting of the first sod, be prepared for anything. The structural evidence may present itself in one or more of a great number of ways. The known site of a large building, say a medieval manor house, may prove to have well-preserved stone foundations, or may, if it was built in the great half-timber tradition, only survive as a level area, bounded by a few pebbles. A few small post-holes and a pattern of wear on the floor of a large Roman building may be the only indication of a later structure, built when the earlier building had gone out of use.
