Tag Archives: finds

Diving into the world of archaeological geophysics

I initially wrote to Allen Archaeology to see if I could gain experience of geophysical surveys in a commercial environment: the equipment used, data analysis and how this relates to the archaeology of the site. I am a geophysics student at University of Southampton, I don’t specifically study archaeology unless chosen as a specialism, but Allen Archaeology kindly offered me a month long volunteer placement. When I started I didn’t know much about archaeology at all; how the two fields of study were related was something I was very keen to learn!

Doing a magnetometry survey

I was immediately put onto a project with the Geophysics Project Officer, Rob Evershed. We were to use magnetometry to survey the subsurface of the Lincolnshire countryside and detect any potential archaeological sites. The survey techniques themselves were very similar to the geophysics I had completed on field trips at university: marking out the survey grids before walking a magnetometer over the ground. The only difference was the equipment had a much higher resolution and is far more expensive to run.

The data analysis on the other hand was completely new. The results were produced in a program called Terrasurveyor and were completely different from magnetometer results I had previously seen. Instead of looking for geological structures as I have done at university, we wanted to find archaeological sites. Rob was great at pointing out distinguishing features in our data and explaining their significance; such as land drains, old roads and other details which would have been inconsequential to someone untrained in archaeological geophysics. Rob taught me how background research into the area and georeferencing of old maps onto modern ones could reconcile anomalous geophysical results with archaeological evidence.

Rob showing me how to process the data

When I haven’t been out in the field I have been able to help out around the office; completing small tasks on QGIS, washing artefacts and trying to piece together a Roman tablet. I’ve had the chance to explore the archives and learnt a lot about the differences in pottery from various periods; I also had the shocking experience (for a non-archaeologist) of coming face to face with a skull!

During my time with Allen Archaeology, I have become more confident in the use of magnetometers and GPS with geophysical surveys and developed my knowledge of computer programs such as QGIS and Terrasurveyor. I have learnt how to interpret geophysical surveys and use them to find archaeological remains; and most importantly through Rob’s instruction, I have learnt how to compare the archaeological evidence (e.g. pottery) in a field with the geophysical data collected and been able to draw conclusions about the history of the area based on all the evidence. I have enjoyed my experience with AAL a lot and when I return to university in September, I am definitely going pick a couple of archaeology modules to compliment my geophysics studies.

A roundup of the week

It’s been a busy week at AAL so this weeks blog is a little round-up of what we’ve been up to.

Warning: Images of human remains feature in this post

You might have already seen the excitement on our site at University of Lincoln. During monitoring works we uncovered human remains dating from the Roman period close to the River Witham.

Tobin has been visiting a site in Cumbria where we have been undertaking a Watching Brief

Rachel working on Damian's site near Peterborough

Damian has had a team out working on an evaluation near Peterborough.

The geophysics team enjoying a break in coastal Lincolnshire

Rob has been out with a team to start a large geophysics project on the Lincolnshire coast where they’ve been contending with a lot of weather but enjoying the location!

Fee’s been working hard in London

Al is dealing with challenging conditions in Brentford

Work is continuing on our “big” project in Market Harborough where the team are undertaking an open area excavation

Bryn has been working hard processing environmental samples

Yvonne has joined the archives team and is getting up to speed as Cova heads off on maternity leave

Nasha has been busy editing reports and dealing with publicity.

Josh has been analysing lithics for a specialist report

A secondment to the Archives

I joined the company as a project archaeologist in June 2015. For the majority of my time here so far I have been out onsite digging, firstly working on the large Roman site at North Killingholme and since then a variety of other sites across the country. Every now and again, I’m posted in the office where I participate in post excavation tasks such as washing and marking finds, which I quite enjoy.

At the end of February there was an advert on the front desk advertising a temporary secondment as an archives assistant; I jumped at the opportunity to apply. I saw it as a good opportunity to learn valuable skills; develop my interest in post-excavation processes further and increase my knowledge of artefacts.

My application was successful and for the best part of March and April I undertook the secondment; temporarily becoming an archives assistant. During this time I had the opportunity to learn a variety of new skills and experience more of the processes that happen in post-ex, alongside getting to handle all the exciting artefacts that come back from site. I helped to package artefacts to be sent to the specialists, sort and catalogue skeletons, write inventories and help organise finds from incoming projects.

My primary role was to assist and prepare a number of site archives to be deposited to their corresponding museums across the country. In this I prepared both the written site archive, so all the registers, drawings, context sheets etc. and boxed the associated site artefacts. The whole process for each site had to adhere to their associated museum guidelines, each of which was different. I assisted with site collections from Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Winchester. Some of the tasks within this were quite repetitive, such as numbering and labelling digital photographs to correspond to the photograph registers or writing accession numbers on all the documents. Nevertheless these repetitive aspects are quite necessary as without it the allotted archive wouldn’t adhere to the correct format and so would be at risk of being rejected by the museums.

I really enjoyed my time in archive department, it was great working with the Archive team and getting to know the ins and outs of what goes on downstairs. It was an enlightening experience, as I have now seen first-hand the full process to which each site and it’s artefacts and documents, takes before it finally it ends up in a museum. From being excavated in the field, then in post ex getting washed, dried, marked, sorted, catalogued, sent to a specialist, reports written, stored then finally boxed up with the related documents and deposited to a museum.