A list of past projects appears below, while the links
above give more detail for currently active or recent community projects undertaken
by Chiltern
Archaeology.
Report number
124
Date: Dec 2012
Title: Archaeological
Assessment for the proposed caravan development Broadfield, Harrow (Pinner Deer
Park).
Report number 123
Date: Aug 2012
Title: Yewden Villa,
Hambleden, Buckinghamshire
Report number 122
Date: in progress
Title: Sedimentological
investigation of the Quaternary sediments at Broom Quarry, near Biggleswade,
Bedfordshire.
Report number 121
Date: April 2010
Title:
Woodland
archaeological survey, North Cot Wood, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire
Report number 120
Date: December 2009
Title:
Woodland
archaeological survey, Ridge Wood, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire
Report number 119
Date: January 2010
Title: Investigation into Chalk
Mining in Badgerdell Wood, Hertfordshire.
Report number 118
Date: October 2009
Title: Salvage recording of the
Old Long House, Charndon, Bucks.
Report number 117
Date: October 2008
Title: The Hambleden Project:
Geophysical survey and desk top study. Report 1
Report number 116
Date: November 2007
Title: Archaeology of Downley
Common, Bucks
Report number 115
Date: September 2007
Title: Cockmarsh,
Berkshire
: Resistivity Survey.
Report number 114
Date: June 2007
Title: Watching brief on
Chamonix
, Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire
Report number 113
Date: April 2007
Title: Buckinghamshire Geological
LGAP and RIGS audit
Report number 112
Date: December 2006
Title: The Kale,
Fethiye
,
Turkey
: landscape and structural survey
Report number: 111
Date: November 2006
Title: Bedfordshire
Geological LGAP and RIGS audit
Report number: 110
Date: October 2006
Title: Geophysics survey Missenden Abbey grounds (south)
Report number: 109
Date: October 2006
Title: Nine Acre Pit, Bedfordshire: geological report.
Report number: 108
Date: July 2006
Title: Bisham Abbey (
Priory
Church
): Geophysical survey.
Report number: 107
Date: January 2006
Title: Gate Piers of St Peter and St Pauls Church, Olney ,
Buckinghamshire. Geological report.
Report number 106
Date: December 2005
Title: Geological report on the
floodplain excavations at Cookham Paddock
Report number: 105
Date: December 2005
Title: Bedfordshire RIGS survey: initial assessment
Report number
: 104
Date: December 2005
Title: Archaeological excavation of Sandy Fields Allotment, Cadmore
End, Bucks.
Report number: 103
Date: August 2005
Title: Archaeological watching brief for St Dunstan’s Church Hall,
Monks Risborough.
Report number: 102
Date: June 2005
Title: Church Hall, St Dunstan’s Church, Monks
Risborough: Desktop study, Map Evaluation.
Report number: 101
Date: April 2005
Title: Archaeological investigation on land between Kiln Barn and
Kiln Lodge, Lacey Green, Bucks.
PROJECTS PRE-CHILTERN ARCHAEOLOGY undertaken by Dr J. Eyers (Director)
Brawdie,
Pembrokeshire
A study of the lithics from this long-term
excavation was completed December 2003. A completed field survey of the region
assessed the geological character of all the rocks of this area of Pembrokeshire
and then sourced the artefacts found on this Dark Age site.
Geomorphological report on the Bragenham Fields Country Wildlife Site,
Bedfordshire
Evaluation of palaeochannel sediments surrounding a
Bronze Age burial site, west of Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Auger
survey across Bell Rope Meadow, Cookham, Berkshire: field survey report and
analysis
The
auger traverse was initiated to record the stratigraphy
of the Thames floodplain deposits in Cookham, to correlate the deposits in the
context of the present land surface, date horizons using artefacts discovered,
determine rates of sedimentation and changes in river activity, and to link this
chronology to human occupation of the area. June 2002.
Survey
of Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological sites in Buckinghamshire
(Part 1)
Survey
of the geology, landscape and including archaeological and ecological features
for the County of Buckinghamshire (Part 1 excludes Milton Keynes District).
September 1999.
Survey of
Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological sites in Buckinghamshire
(Part 2: Milton Keynes District)
Survey of the
geology, landscape and including archaeological and ecological features for the
County of Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes District. September 1999.
Byzantine
ceramics petrology project
This archaeological project, undertaken with Dr Ken Dark
(University of Reading) and the Late Antiquity Research Group, seeks to use
petrology as an inexpensive method (and first call) to identify the sources of
Byzantine ceramics and building materials. There are two project directors: Dr
Dark (Byzantine archaeology expert) and Dr Eyers (specialist in the Eastern
Mediterranean, and microscopy expert). The result was
the initiation of a database comprising Byzantine ceramic and building material
types. 1996. www.rdg.ac.uk/byzantinestudies/lateantiquityresearchgroup/larg.html
Tunisia:
Byzantine building materials
A geoarchaeological project running from 1995-6
involving research and walk-over survey of a newly discovered site – Pupput.
The site was excavated by Tunisian staff and involved the
identification of the building stones, columns, artefacts and mosaic components.
There followed a geological survey of the local area for suitable local building
materials. Two source areas were located for the sandstones and limestones.
Although there are better known and higher status sites in Tunisia, the
importance of this site lays in its provinciality – very little is known about
Byzantine village life. This was a good opportunity to gain further information
about small settlements.
Turkey:
Byzantine settlements
1. Lycia
Previously unknown sites were located during
an initial short ‘look and see’ visit to Lycia. These may yet turn out to be
exciting finds for Byzantine history. The initial survey was undertaken in 1997 with
limited excavations occurring in 1999 and on-going during 2003-4. These Lycian
sites may provide the best insight into rural Byzantine archaeology that has
ever been undertaken.
2. Cappadocia
Permission is currently being sought for
geophysical work preceding excavation in Cappadocia, central Turkey. Very little
is
known of the Byzantine archaeology of this area, except for the rock-hewn
dwellings themselves. Geophysical work will hopefully locate middens and other
occupation areas, and hopefully will provide evidence that will lead to an
understanding of these 4th to 8th century populations.
Palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology:
The
UK and Spain
Previous work has resulted in a detailed comparison of the stratigraphy
and a reconstruction of the palaeoenvironments of the Lower Cretaceous
for northwest Europe. The resulting stratigraphical and sedimentological study
is also of use for a future evaluation of the palaeoecology of the Lower
Cretaceous faunas. In this respect, research has shown that this part of the
Lower Cretaceous (Aptian and Albian stages) saw rapidly increasing sea-levels
indicating:
- the
effects of continued rifting of the North Atlantic on sedimentation patterns
(Spain and UK) and hence on the faunas;
- the
effects of sea-level variations on the deep sea faunas and other faunas.
Brazil:
sedimentological and palaeoecological study
Links for a cooperative programme of research were made
with the University of Cariri, NE Brazil during 1993. Initial fieldwork was
completed in 1993-4 in the Chapada do Araripe area. The stratigraphical
and palaeontological work, plus following basin analysis
compliments the work of Martill (Portsmouth University) and Wilby (BGS), which
concentrated on the exceptional preservation of the fish faunas and other
vertebrates. Work on the detailed sedimentology and also the palaeoecology of
the fauna is still required.
Stratigraphy
and palaeoenvironments of the Gault Clay
The palaeoecology of the Gault and Red Chalk of England
were research during 1989 to 1992 and in 1995 to 1996. Research
involved a collection and determination of the fauna, zone by zone, throughout
the Gault. The following study then concentrated on autecological and
synecological studies followed by a study of the interactions between species
and between species and their environment. The research also included a
concurrent sedimentological and gamma-ray spectrometer survey. Results showed
that there are distinct environmental influences on changes in faunal structure, such as variation in oxygenation of the
seafloor and sea-level variations.
Palynological
and trace fossil study of Cretaceous estuarine environments
Fossil evidence supporting sedimentological data pinpoints
the precise location of an ancient estuary (near Leighton Buzzard, Beds) and
also its morphology (unpublished). The study was carried out during 1989-92 and
then from 1994-96. The Lower Greensand has always been proposed as an entirely marine sequence. The Leighton Buzzard sections have always been noted for their
‘different’ character in relation to the rest of the outcrop area in
Southern England. The palynology and trace fossils, as well as sedimentological
character prove the differences as being due to the close
proximity of an estuary to this part of Bedfordshire 110 million years ago.
Sediments
and fauna of the Shenley Limestone, Bedfordshire
A study of the sediments of the Shenley Limestone, in
Bedfordshire was undertaken during 1989-90 and in 1993-4. The study
included a field survey, hand specimen and thin section microscope studies. A
detailed evaluation of this unusual clastic limestone proved this to be a
carbonate infill of an ironstone beach platform. A crevice fauna was discovered
within the lenses, together with an encrusting fauna on the ironstone platform.
Tidal
flat environments of the Silty Beds, Bedfordshire
This research (carried out during 1990-93) combined stratigraphic,
sedimentological and biostratigraphic studies. The research
conclusions were a reconstruction of a tidal flat environment in Bedfordshire
105 to 95 million years ago.
Palaeoenvironments
and stratigraphy of the Lower Greensand Formation, Bedfordshire
This 1992 to 1993 research resulted in a detailed
correlation of the units of the Lower Greensand using new and traditional
techniques. This led to a new interpretation of the influences on sedimentation
during the Aptian to Albian stages of the Lower Cretaceous. The new ideas
developed here involved the discovery of the reactivation of basement faults
which resulted in a separation of the province into the Bedfordshire and Norfolk
Basin, the results are still visible in the landscape today.
Gamma-ray
survey and profiling of sedimentary sequences
This technique was evaluated
over the period 1990-1993. The research conclusions were that the technique of gamma-ray
profiling (hand-held equipment in field locations) can be used with argillaceous
sediments, and sometimes with clastic sediments, as a correlation tool. The
radioelements of K, Th and U were used in the study. Careful analysis of the
data revealed that there may be an environmental significance to the variations
in radioelement concentrations, such as an indication of depleted oxygen,
glauconitisation or phophatisation of the original environment. The value of
this is enormous in that important information can be gained quickly and
cheaply, without the need for expensive laboratory analyses.
Lycia,
Turkey: The Lycian nappes
This study completed in 1993 involved detailed
lithostratigraphy and thin section microscope analysis of the complex
mountainous region around Fethiye known as the Lycian Nappe. Research
conclusions resulted in the distinction of allochthonous and authochthonous
sediment sequences and a new interpretation of the structure of the nappes as
imbricate thrust slices. The imbricate thrust model developed beautifully
explained the previously puzzling narrow foreland basin.
The
Lesser Antilles volcanic arc
Fieldwork in 1991 preceded a geochemical study on the
evolution and geological history of the volcanic arc. In collaboration with
Professor R. Mcdonald (Vice Chancellor and Head of Geophysics, Lancaster
University)
