According to a government Landcare agency, New Zealand loses 192 million tonnes of soil each year from erosion, much of it flowing out to sea.

This is hardly peculiar to New Zealand but a world‑wide phenomenon yet, for over a decade I’ve failed to get a reply to a simple question. That is, given this constant erosion why do anthropologists have to dig down under the surface to expose yesteryear human settlements? How is it that the passing of centuries, despite the steadfast erosion claims, explain today’s earth level being 5 or 10 metres higher than a 1000 years or so back?