Abstract: | Summary. Recent work has suggested that greater attention might be paid to the archaeological potential of the modern ploughsoil. In particular, it seems likely that soil marks in chalkland areas can be remarkably resilient. This paper describes an attempt to recover and analyse soil marks on a gravel site through sieving of the modern ploughsoil. Such an approach may shed considerable light on the original form of earthwork monuments otherwise obliterated by modern agriculture, but does not entail any disturbance of stratified deposits. |