News & Projects
November 2019
Exceptionally wet conditions so far this Autumn have produced dreadful ground conditions across much of the UK, areas of open soil can be extremely difficult to survey and data sets may be unacceptably noisy due to erratic movement and soil accumulating on footwear and equipment. The latter is often associated with ground contamination by so called 'green waste' where organic material derived from garden waste has been spread across fields. This material is often not properly screened for rubbish such as plastics, wire and miscellaneous metal objects which are also spread with the waste. Some of these particles are highly magnetic and can easily stick to footwear and wheels resulting in magnetic disturbance ranging from very low to very high and potentially obscuring archaeological features.
This short article takes a look at the current state of standards and guidance for archaeological geophysics in England with particular regard to commercial practice.
David Sabin of Archaeological Surveys Ltd was invited by Professor John Hunter of Birmingham University to present at the launching of "The Making of Tysoe Project" on March 14th, just before the coronavirus lock down. Tysoe is located in south Warwickshire close to the county border with Oxfordshire and on the edge of the Cotswolds AONB. The village is located within an area of extensive prehistoric and Roman archaeology but the project considers all aspects of historical and archaeological interest.
Francis George Sabin passed away in September 2019 after several years of struggling with a number of degenerative illnesses. Francis provided valuable support to Archaeological Surveys Ltd after a long career in engineering.
Archaeological Surveys Ltd was commissioned by the Malmesbury History Society to undertake a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of accessible areas around the abbey and adjacent areas. Variable results were obtained but include anomalies relating to the northern cloister, the crossing, presbytery and transepts. Fragments of the abbey complex were also located by GPR surveying within Abbey House Gardens to the east and behind The Old Bell Hotel to the north west. The GPR survey also located fragments of St Paul's church to the south of the abbey. No significant features were identified within the churchyard to the south of the abbey, although the GPR profiles indicate the presence of a very large number of graves probably confirming the area had been used for burial by the town from the medieval up until the Victorian period. The GPR results within the abbey were poor probably as a result of the floor and shallow subsurface make-up; despite the presence of numerous memorial ledgers within the floor, there was very little evidence for graves below it, and although 19th and 20th century renovations may have removed them, it is possible that high levels of GPR absorption have restricted penetration.
Magnetometry carried out by Archaeological Surveys Ltd at Aldbourne, Wiltshire, has successfully located anomalies relating to Nissen huts used by Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US army preparing for D-Day. Subsequent excavation, as part of Operation Nightingale, revealed concrete pads forming the foundations of one of the huts along with finds dating to the use and occupation of the site.