Tales from the outer limits: Archaeological geophysical prospection in lowland peat environments in the British Isles

Abstract

In order to systematically investigate the potential of conventional near surface geophysical techniques to locate waterlogged archaeological targets in peatlands, the authors applied four conventional geophysical methodsearth resistance, groundpenetrating radar (GPR), magnetic gradiometry and frequency domain electromagnetics (FDEM)to four lowland peat archaeological test sites in Great Britain. In this article we demonstrate that a Neolithic trackway was identified in the GPR data in Somerset, with likely 'proxy' detections of chemical changes showing up in both electrical and magnetic surveys. This was determined by a coring programme and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) multi-element analysis of peat samples to determine the relative concentrations of geophysically relevant chemical elements. Though no Bronze Age timbers were detected at Flag Fen, a post-Bronze Age agricultural landscape was identified in both the GPR and gradiometer surveys. We conclude that GPR has the greatest potential for archaeological geophysical prospection in peatland environments, but that electrical and magnetic methods can usefully be employed as secondary sources of information and should not be discounted from future research. Further, this article argues that better understandings must be developed of the impacts of geochemistry on geophysical data if we are going to realistically pursue 'whole landscape' surveys.

Application of viewshed analysis and probability mapping for search area determination based on the Moors murders on Saddleworth Moor, the United Kingdom

“…However, with the right conditions, one of the victims was discovered half in half out (one of the girls), causing the half out of the soil to become skeletonized, unlike the other half, which was preserved in the peat when discovered in 1965. However, peat is known to contain good preservative properties with regard to conserving human remains [73], as the physical and chemical conditions in their waterlogged environment create a unique preservation setting [74,75]. For instance, the saponification of the fatty tissue of the first two bodies, including that of Lesley Ann Downey, allowed for good preservation within the peat.…”

Bog Bodies in Context: Developing a Best Practice Approach

“…Schleifer et al, 2002). However, it has been noted that GPR has the greatest potential for these environments, with some success in identifying in situ sites (Armstrong et al, 2018), but that this is dependent on chemistry and peat preservation. Remote sensing provides the possibility of obtaining continuous stratigraphic data across a bog, and this can be validated through borehole stratigraphic analysis.…”

Sensing Archaeology in the North: The Use of Non-Destructive Geophysical and Remote Sensing Methods in Archaeology in Scandinavian and North Atlantic Territories

“…Beyond site discovery, now quite achievable given the large areas multi-channel systems can explore, several studies have demonstrated that integrated surveys can provide useful information regarding paleoenvironmental aspects and ancient human occupation [70][71][72]. Especially if combined with soil characterisation, geophysical techniques can provide insights about stratigraphy and taphonomic/soil-related processes that are related to the genesis of geophysical contrasts and detection of archaeological features [30,73,74]. This extra level of information should be exploited more to derive information about the state of preservation of buried archaeological assets.…”