Digital Information Technology in Field Archaeology
LRC Project EH
3065
funded by English Heritage Archaeology Commissions with additional support from
The
Handspring Foundation, and
Fuji
(UK)
A project evaluating the potential of digital field recording techniques
applied to the archaeology of the Iron-Age, Roman and Early Anglo-Saxon periods
in Eastern Yorkshire.
Introduction
It can be argued that whilst the practice of field archaeology is an art, the
process is a science; field archaeology is distinguished by the fact that each
excavation is an unrepeatable experiment, an experiment which relies on the
destruction of much of the evidence being examined as a fundamental part of the
process. The field archaeologist has a responsibility to preserve each site
through its records by careful and rigorous documentation. No two trenches are
identical and whilst sites of the same class may be similar in layout, form or
function each will have its own unique combination of geology, soils and human
intervention which will combine to make excavation of each a unique challenge.
As archaeology has matured the level of information required to support
analysis and interpretation has increased; with this the level of documentation
required has also radically expanded. Given the fact that there is only one
chance to observe and document any particular deposit or feature, recording can
only realistically be undertaken in the field. For more than 15 years
excavations undertaken as part of the Heslerton Parish Project have pioneered
the use of hand-held computers in the field, replacing the paper record with
digital records which enable analysis to be undertaken as part of the excavation
rather that at a post excavation stage. Now that the computer is as commonplace
in archaeology as the trowel the DigIT project has been instigated to evaluate
the current state of the art in digital recording equipment and approaches. The
project combines a group of small excavations undertaken as part of a long term
research programme into the evolution of the landscape of Eastern Yorkshire with
a series of digital recording experiments; building on the work undertaken over
the last 23 years testing new approaches and hardware not previously available,
applied directly in the field.
Archaeological Trenches and Objectives
The DigIT excavation is underpinned by over 15 years of
excavation, analysis and understanding of the archaeology of the Heslerton
Parish in the Vale of Pickering and forms part of a continued drive to
understand the archaeology of the region in the context of the landscape in
which it exists. Perhaps surprisingly the seemingly empty fields you drive past
are crammed with dense occupation and evidence of use and disuse throughout
time, mostly centered around the Iron Age, Roman, Anglian and Saxon periods.
Unfortunately this density of evidence attracts not only the inquisitive
methodical archaeologist but also the undesirable attentions of prospectors and
hobbyist metal detectors. For this reason we must keep the exact location of our
investigations secret, the temptation to do some 'research' of their own is
often too great and useful data is lost through unrecorded cherry-picking. We
will at least attempt to convey our findings within their context and our
results will be put in the public domain once our work is done.
The first site in this new phase of research lies between
Yedingham and Sherburn on the southern side of the Vale of Pickering, North
Yorkshire and is on the same alignment as the Anglian 'ladder' settlement which
formed the focus of the West Heslerton Excavations.
Location of site 28 in the Vale of Pickering (from Robert
Morden 1695)
Sites
such as this are under threat of accumulative destruction from plough damage,
and one of the aims of these investigations is to look into identifying and
protecting the archaeological resource whilst also furthering understanding
along the lines of the research aims set out in the Heslerton
Parish Project.
Trench location in relation to geophysical survey.
Trench AA
Trench AA was located over three geophysical anomalies which showed from the
geophysical survey as likely to be Grubenhäuser. The Grubenhaus
is the most distinctive feature type found in early Anglo-Saxon settlements, the
name, from the German, meaning effectively ' hole in the ground house is
somewhat deceptive. Evidence from the nearby excavated village at West Heslerton
and elsewhere shows that these features which can measure up to 5 x 4 metres in
area and over a metre deep were dug out to facilitate the creation of cavity
floor buildings above. The buildings, which appear to have had turf walls, are
thought to have been used for a variety of purposes including grain storage, and
other more general purposes associated with craft, industry and everyday life.
The material filling these large rectangular features used to be thought to be
derived from the building above and therefore associated with the use of the
building, it has now been proven that most of the material contained in the pits
is derived from manure heaps where it may have lain for many years before being
discarded into the pit left after the building had decayed or been deliberately
dismantled. It is likely that this material may have been derived from cleaning
up areas where manure heaps had been maintained for the purpose of
night-soiling; disposal of domestic and animal refuse on the fields as organic
fertiliser. Although we no longer consider the material in these features to be
associated with the buildings that once stood over them, this is the primary
resource for evidence of daily life in these settlements including ceramics,
animal bone, plant remains and other finds.
Trench AB
Trench AB is positioned to investigate a series of circular and
sub-rectangular enclosures which lie directly to the south of the 'Ladder
Settlement'. These have not been investigated prior to the DigIT project and
their function is something of a puzzle, a couple of suggestions put forward are
that they may represent Hay-rick gullies (the draining ditches around
hay-stacks) or that they may represent burial monuments, from the Iron Age or
Roman period. If these features turn out to be associated with burial in this
period then they are of considerable importance since we currently know nothing
of the burial practices during these periods in rural Eastern Yorkshire.
Trench AC
The location of trench AC shows a pattern of linear or curvelinear features
on the geophysical survey results which is indicative of the extensive 'Ladder'
type planned settlements found along the south side of the Vale of Pickering .
Ladder settlements are a feature of the landscape of Eastern Yorkshire where
they seem to have developed alongside major trackways established during the
Late Bronze or Iron Age with occupation continuing until the Early Anglo-Saxon
period .
[ Back ]
