According to the OED, the branch of geology that deals with the arrangement of the layers or strata of the earth's crust. In both geology and archaeology, stratigraphy yields the maxim that, with the passing of time, the earth buries its surface in successive layers of dust and other materials. This then allows for the relative dating of finds through their depth and position within the earth.

We are left then with a material manifestation of a linear temporality. Cut the earth, and there the passage of time is revealed.

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