Munsell Color Charts aid the archaeologist in determining the colour of an archaeological soil or sediment. Determining each colour in a soil layer is important because archaeologists want to see the transition between layers. A difference in soil layer colour can show age, use of site, activities, and eating habits. What a page looks like Each colour is given a code of letters and numbers so that they can be compared to other colours in the soil profile. The chart has sets of standardized colour chips arranged in rows on several pages.
Researchers obtain a colour code by comparing the soil colour to one of the pages in the book.
The purpose of this system is keep researchers from making arbitrary descriptions of colours.