Sequence dating

Sequence dating, an archaeological relative dating method, allows assemblages to be arranged in a rough serial order, which is then taken to indicate time. Sequence dating is a method of seriation developed by the Egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie. By linking styles of pottery with different time periods, he was able to establish the relative chronology of the site.

Sir Flinders Petrie (1853–1942) was the first to use seriation in Egyptology. Sir Flinders Petrie, the younger contemporary of archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers, was meticulous in his excavations and recorded every artifact and detail on site. From his work, Petrie was able to bring chronological order to 2,200 pit graves of the Naqada cemetery in Upper Egypt.

The sequence dating method allowed the relative date, if not the absolute date, of any given Predynastic Egypt site to be ascertained by examining the handles on pottery, general form of the piece, and the stratigraphic layer it was found in. As more evidence of the predynastic period is uncovered, this dating method in relation to the pottery on site aids in determining the relative date of the site.