If a layer contains objects from both earlier and later periods, which process should be examined first?

Human or natural disturbance

The governing concept is stratigraphic integrity. If artefacts from widely separated periods occur in one layer, the deposit may have been disturbed by ploughing, a later pit, animal burrows, construction, or natural soil movement. Option B is correct because disturbance can mix materials that were originally deposited at different times. Pottery production may assist dating, but it does not explain the mixed layer; royal control and site planning are unrelated to this immediate taphonomic problem.

This is a Class 12 History question. Chapter: Bricks, Beads and Bones. Topic: excavation methods.