The effect of ploughing on stratigraphy and on artefacts spread over the surface is explored in this much-needed book. Agricultural engineering literature and the analysis of three experimental datasets have been used to produce a computer simulation of the effect of ploughing on the distribution of portable objects (not on architectural remains). How much of the original patterning on archaeological sites has been destroyed, and how much survives? Can tillage-induced changes in surface patterns be 'cancelled out' by identifying their effects? This closely argued book suggests answers.