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In Archaeology, the term horizon is used in more than one way; the less rigourously defined ones being more likely to be met in conversation rather than in a professional report. All have in common, the idea of a distinctive level in the archaeological sequence of the features of a site, an area within the site or in a wider, geographical area. This is comparable with a geological sequence. An example of a horizon which is likely to be distinct is one below which there are no archaeological features and above which they occur. This of course, indicates the arrival of man on the site but it is more likely to regarded as a significant horizon if features below, or more likely, above it enable its dating by some means.

Expressed more technically, the term can be used to denote a series of stratigraphic relationships that form a "phase" or are part of the process of phasing a site. Or an archaeological horizon can be understood as a break in contexts formed in the Harris matrix which denotes a change in epoch on a given site by delineation in time of finds found within contexts . For instance a horizon could be formed by virtue of there being no Roman finds found in contexts "below" a certain point in the Harris matrix, signifying that all contexts occurring earlier than this horizon were pre-Roman. A real example of this use of Horizon is Dark earth which is viewed as the abandonment of urban areas in Roman Britain from the 2nd century on.

The term 'Archaeological horizon' is sometimes used in place of the term layer or strata but this is an example of its less rigorous use.

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