Research

"The lack of surviving material culture and datable finds from the Iron Age/ Romano-British (600 B.C.E.–400 C.E.) ditches and trackways that dominate the landscape of the Magnesian Limestone ridge in South Yorkshire and the northeast Midlands of England should not deter archaeological investigation; rather, they should inspire it. The Brodsworth Archaeology Project has sought to understand the South Yorkshire landscape through excavation and survey since 2001, through the excavation of ditched trackways, field systems, and enclosures. In 2010, excavation of one enclosure with associated double-ditched trackways at Bilham (Doncaster, South Yorkshire) inspired a geoarchaeological investigation of one of the few available resources: the sediments within the ditches.
Using micromorphology and a full sedimentological analysis, including granulometry and laser particle size analysis of the fine fraction, magnetic susceptibility, calcimetry, and organic content, a reconstruction of the periods of infilling and post-depositional processes was produced. Through these analyses, it was deter- mined that, while the ditches lining the trackway were likely constructed at the same time as they are both of similar depth and incline, they fell out of use at different times, and were infilled using different mechanisms as well as different mineral materials. This suggests that, while the enclosure and surrounding landscape was in use, the trackway was continuously changing and shifting in relation to those more permanent structures. The presence of Late Iron Age burials within the trackway further submits that later societies, even into the Early Romano-British period changed the use of these ditches from means of movement into physical boundaries across the landscape.
The sediment analysis on the materials filling the enclosure ditch terminal also illustrates a multiphase settlement pattern. Markings within the bedrock suggest that the ditch was continuously recut and kept at one level for a long period of time. Infilling with natural materials and large boulders infer a brief period of neglect and intentional infilling; however a later reshaping of the terminal ditch, followed by slow accumulation of organic-rich silty deposits, indicate a later intensive occupation phase.
Through thorough geoarchaeological analyses, a site-specific history at Bilham has emerged. At a site where material culture cannot reveal the daily activities of the Iron Age and Romano-British population, the sediments occupying monu- mental features have demonstrated the changing responses to the arrangement of landscape features."

The Viking overwintering camp in England (beginning 855 AD) is a subject that has limited documentary evidence, and has been largely ignored archaeologically. Geoarchaeological and landscape surveys applied to this type of site are providing new insights into the Viking winter camp, revealing aspects of the archaeological records that have been frequently overlooked. Beginning with a re-examination of the existing evidence of Viking overwintering camps, this paper will revisit the identified sites in England and present brief landscape surveys and reassessments of previous conclusions. Bearing in mind this review of existing knowledge, this paper will then summarize the approach to the landscape of the Torksey overwintering camp and the ongoing geoarchaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and landscape survey. The initial results and implications of this environmental landscape study for the wider and future study of overwintering camps will also be discussed.

Establishing a robust chronology is fundamental to most palaeoenvironmental studies.  However, the number and positioning of dated points is critical. Using a portable luminescence reader, it is possible to rapidly generate high resolution down core relative age profiles.  Profiles of portable luminescence data from two coastal dunes were evaluated and compared with the results of particle size analysis, stratigraphy, and an independent historical chronology. Results show that, even in young samples, portable luminescence data is dominated by an age related signal which in homogeneous sediment need not be corrected for moisture, feldspar content changes or grain size.  Profiles therefore provide relative age profiles from which accumulation phases can be established, and from which better targeted sampling and comparison to other sites could be undertaken.  Even though they do not provide instant absolute chronologies, field-based portable OSL profiling of Late Quaternary sites hold much potential to improve the resultant chronologies.

With David Knight and Steve Malone

Palaeochannels are one of the most common features of valley floors in temperate alluvial landscapes, and their value as
natural sediment traps containing proxy records of climate, vegetation history and land-use is well known within the
archaeological and geomorphological communities.

In the recent past, the most significant threats to these landforms have been associated with quarrying, but future climate change may bring new challenges, associated both with changing natural threshold conditions and with flood risk
management. Mitigating and managing future threats to these important historic environment assets requires detailed
knowledge of their extent and character. This paper outlines a multi-staged approach to evaluating the palaeochannel resource in the Nottinghamshire sector of the middle and lower Trent Valley, UK. The first stage of the project involved the mapping of features from a variety of remote-sensed imagery, including standard aerial photography, lidar and multispectral data, and assessing the efficacy of each methodology. However, producing a landform resource map is simply the first stage of this project, and this presentation will also explore future stages, including fieldwork strategies for assessing the chronology and preservation potential of these landforms at the macroscale and likely future threats associated with climate change.

Whilst such research is important for heritage management, this approach can benefit the wider community. In particular,
palaeochannels are key assets for nature conservation, and can play a key role in flood management strategies as a part of
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.

Bateman, M. D., Rushby, G., Stein, S., Ashurst, R. A., Stevenson, D., Jones, J. M., and Gehrels, W. R. (2017) Can sand dunes be used to study historic storm events?. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms, doi: 10.1002/esp.4255.

Knowing the long-term frequency of high magnitude storm events that cause coastal inundation is critical for present coastal management, especially in the context of rising sea levels and potentially increasing frequency and severity of storm events. Coastal sand dunes may provide a sedimentary archive of past storm events from which long-term frequencies of large storms can be reconstructed. This study uses novel portable optically stimulated luminescence (POSL) profiles from coastal dunes to reconstruct the sedimentary archive of storm and surge activity for Norfolk, UK. Application of POSL profiling with supporting luminescence ages and particle size analysis to coastal dunes provides not only information of dunefield evolution but also on past coastal storms. In this study, seven storm events, two major, were identified from the dune archive spanning the last 140 years. These appear to correspond to historical reports of major storm surges. Dunes appear to be only recording (at least at the sampling resolution used here) the highest storm levels that were associated with significant flooding. As such the approach seems to hold promise to obtain a better understanding of the frequency of large storms by extending the dune archive records further back to times when documentation of storm surges was sparse.

Viking overwintering camps of late 9th century England have been excluded from most recent dialogues regarding Viking Age England. Although overwintering camps are directly mentioned in historical records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, these sites have remained archaeologically elusive. The recent identification of the Viking overwintering camp at Torksey, now under investigation by the Torksey Project, has provided a key opportunity to fill the gap in the current literature about the relation between environment, landscape, and Viking winter camps. This thesis uses geoarchaeological techniques, including palynology, sediment analysis, and optically stimulated luminescence to determine that the location was defined by a waterlogged landscape with aeolian sediments. The landscape evaluation has identified sites within the surrounding area that would have been integral in shaping the physical and political form and long-term effects of the winter camp, including a royal estate, a burhdyke associated with Torksey, an intermittently active canal at the Foss Dyke, and historical documents linking the site with the Mercian royal family. The methods employed during this have produced results that definitively demonstrate that the character of the environment was largely responsible for the Viking’s choice of site for their overwintering at Torksey, and how the early medieval population would have interacted with the environment in the Lower Trent Valley.

Sediment analysis, micromorphology, and portable luminescence chronologies on the ditch fills of the Romano-British enclosures at Bilham, Doncaster. Demonstrated multiple phases of use of the ditch, and periods of abandonment and vegetation cover, as well as means of weathering and infill of the ditch systems.

Radiocarbon dating has been rarely used for chronological problems relating to the Anglo-Saxon period. The "flatness" of the calibration curve and the resultant wide range in calendrical dates provide little advantage over traditional archaeological dating in this period. Recent advances in Bayesian methodology have, however, created the possibility of refining and checking the established chronologies, based on typology of artifacts, against 14C dates. The calibration process, within such a confined age range, however, relies heavily on the structural accuracy of the calibration curve. We have there- fore re-measured, at decadal intervals, a section of the Irish oak chronology for the period AD 495-725. These measurements have been included in IntCal04.

Radiocarbon dating has been central to the construction of archaeological chronologies for over 50 years. The archaeological, scientific and (increasingly) statistical methods for interpreting radiocarbon measurements to produce these chronologies have become ever more sophisticated. The accurate measurement of the radiocarbon content of an archaeological sample is, and always has been, fundamental to any interpretation. This article provides an overview of the different approaches adopted for measuring radiocarbon from archaeological samples by laboratories at the start of the 21st century.