Editing Harris matrix (section)

{{short description|Method of depicting site stratigraphy}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=May 2014}}
[[File:Harris matrix planning.webm|thumb|Animation showing interpretive grouping and phasing on matrix diagram.]]
The '''Harris matrix''' is a tool used to depict the temporal succession of [[archaeological context]]s and thus the sequence of depositions and surfaces on a 'dry land' archaeological site, otherwise called a 'stratigraphic sequence'. The matrix reflects the relative position and [[stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] contacts of observable stratigraphic units, or contexts. It was developed in 1973 in Winchester, England, by [[Edward C. Harris]].[[File:Harris-Matrix H (cropped).jpg|thumb|A Harris matrix]]The concept of creating [[Seriation (archaeology)|seriation]] diagrams of archaeological strata based on the physical relationship between strata had had some currency in [[Winchester]] and other urban centres in England prior to Harris's formalisation. One of the results of Harris's work, however, was the realisation that sites had to be excavated stratigraphically, in the reverse order to that in which they were created, without the use of arbitrary measures of stratification such as [[spit (archaeology)|spit]]s or {{not a typo|[[planum (archaeology)|planum]]s}}. In his ''Principles of archaeological stratigraphy'' Harris first proposed the need for each unit of stratification to have its own graphic representation, usually in the form of a measured plan. In articulating the laws of archaeological stratigraphy and developing a system in which to demonstrate simply and graphically the sequence of deposition or truncation on a site, Harris has followed in the footsteps of notable stratigraphic archaeologists such as Mortimer Wheeler, without necessarily being a notable excavator himself.

Harris's work was a vital precursor to the development of single context planning by the [[Museum of London]] and also the development of land use diagrams, all facets of a suite of archaeological recording tools and techniques developed in the UK which allow in-depth analysis of complex archaeological data sets, usually from urban [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]]s.