Trent Valley GeoArchaeology
Predictive Modelling of Multi-Period Geoarchaeological Resources at a River Confluence
Through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), English Heritage have funded a two year research project into the predictive modelling of the geoarchaeological resources at the confluence of the rivers Trent and Soar. The project is led by principal investigators Professor Tony Brown of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources at the University of Exeter, and Dr Andy J Howard and Mr Keith Challis based at the HP VISTA Centre, University of Birmingham. Other project staff include Dr Chris Carey, Dr Emma Tetlow, Lynden Cooper and Mark Kincey.
The aims of the research are:
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To establish a rigorous research model for the future development of pre-determination designs for site evaluation.
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To assess the effectiveness of various airborne and ground based remote sensing methods for archaeological prospection in alluvial environments.
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To derive relationships between pre-extraction site survey data and likely chronostratigraphic and environmental data as part of archaeological assessments.
Recent archaeological work on British river floodplains has suggested that river confluences have been the foci of settlement and human activity since the earliest post-glacial periods. The distribution and nature of the archaeological resource in these regions is directly linked to the geomorphology of the floodplain, both in terms of the original locations of sites as well as their level of preservation or destruction as a result of post-depositional taphonomic processes. A detailed investigation of the geomorphology of a river confluence therefore provides a predictive capability for determining the distribution and survival of archaeological remains.
The project incorporated a range of airborne remote sensing techniques including airborne lidar, IFSAR and aerial photography. These airborne data sources were combined with ground-based geophysical surveys, geomorphological mapping and sediment coring to provide a detailed understanding of the surface and sub-surface geomorphology of the study area. The application of radiocarbon and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating techniques to sediment samples allowed the calibration of this relative model to actual chronological frameworks. The methodological approach to assessing the geoarchaeological potential of river confluence environments, as refined through this project, forms a set of guidelines which are equally applicable to other alluvial areas facing future aggregate extraction. The project will therefore be of benefit to both curatorial and contract archaeologists, as well as to the aggregates community themselves, by setting a benchmark for how to assess and characterise both the archaeological and geomorphological resource.
The results of the project are available for download and viewing via the project document archive page.
Access to an interactive online version of the project Geographical Information System (GIS) is also available through the GIS page.