Karak Resources Project

The information on the label is noted down, along with the sample volume.

The mesh is placed in the tank and secured with bulldog clips, ready for the sample to be poured in.

The pump moves water through the system at pressure, small water jets facilitating the break-down of the soil. The floter helps by gently breaking the soil up with their hands, being careful not to squash any of the seeds or charcoal.

Once all the soil has fallen away, the water is allowed to over-flow into the sieves. The coarse (1mm) sieve catches the larger cereal grains, pulses and large weed seeds, while the fine (300 mµ) sieve catches the smaller weed seeds and chaff.

Once most of the flot has passed into the sieves, the spout can be removed. The flot tends to stick to the mesh. This should never be scraped off, as the seeds will be crushed. Instead, the sides of the mesh should be dunked in the middle of the tank, and the material scooped up with the strainer. In this way, all the material can be retrieved with minimum damage. The flot in the tea strainer is tipped into the sieves.

The material left in the mesh is called the residue. This generally consists of artifacts like pottery, glass and bone. Once dry, the residue is scanned for these artifacts, which are bagged and sent off for analysis.

The coarse and fine sieves are emptied into separate paper 'nappies', and folded up to dry. They remain separate to facilitate analysis at a later stage.

The mesh and sieves are rinsed to prevent cross-contamination. The process can now begin again.

Once the flots are dry, they are carefully transferred to sample bags, and sent off to an archaeobotanist for analysis in the lab.