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Department of Archaeology

Explore a case study showcasing a deposit-centred approach in archaeology, focusing on Palaeolithic remains in HS1 and Ebbsfleet Village. Understand deposit types, potential sites, and evaluation methods.

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Department of Archaeology

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  1. Desk-based Assessment & Deposit-centred Approach: Case-study 1, worked example - HS1 & Ebbsfleet Village Francis Wenban-Smith Historic England, Heritage Practice Training Curating the Palaeolithic Priory Rooms, Birmingham 28th June 2019 CAHO-Contracting Palaeolithic pre-construction archaeology Department of Archaeology

  2. Before going any further: - Clikapad census CAHO- Contracting What table are you sitting at? • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 Department of Archaeology

  3. Worked example: HS1 & Ebbsfleet Village - Introduction CAHO- Contracting • Real-world example • Demonstrates deposit-centred approach, and thinking process • 1 - Wider view: - landscape, deposit-types - Palaeolithic remains - deposit potential, general • 2 - Closer view: Palaeolithic Character Areas - PCAs - lines-on-maps - deposit character - Palaeolithic remains - more-specific potential - key Qs, evaluation methods • Presages Case-study 2, group work

  4. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view - approach and thinking process • Landscape context (3km) - topography - geology, “Solid” - geology, “Drift” - deposit distribution, extrapolation • Palaeolithic potential - known sites, HER - types of site, deposit formation processes - unmapped deposits - expected/possible Palaeolithic sites - their importance?

  5. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view - case-study materials and methods • Generic information: course material, “Sources” - refer to (and useful post-course) - Sources 1-5: Palaeolithic and Pleistocene background - Sources 6-11: recognising and assessing Palaeolithic potential - Sources 12-14: Deposit-centred approach, Palaeolithic Character Areas and approaches to evaluation • Case-study-specific information - Map 1: site location and surrounds, with geology key (Exercise 1) - “HER info”: Palaeolithic site locations and details (Exercises 2, 3)

  6. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view - case-study materials and methods: Map 1 • Deposit key, “Drift” & “Solid” • OS 1km grid lines • HS1 route, with 3km DBA corridor • “Ebbsfleet Village” mixed housing quarter • Part-filled-in with Palaeolithic HER info • Varying confidence for site locations (and hence provenance)

  7. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view - case-study materials and methods: Table 1 • Exercise 1 - Deposits: - identify geological variety - consider formation processes - consider implications for Palaeolithic remains • Exercise 2 - Sites: - review Palaeolithic HER - locate sites on map - relate sites to deposits • Exercise 3 - Deposit potential: - collate site information by deposit-type - review ideas on site formation processes - consider general potential of deposit types in study area [matrix - Sources 10-11, p13] *

  8. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - Exercise 1, using Map 1 and Table 1 C B • Identify deposit types in DBA corridor, using geology key (Map 1; then Table 1, col 1) • Write some interpretive comments about their formation process (Table 1, col 2) • Assess (a) “Integrity” [chronological, stratigraphic] and (b) “Disturbance” [movement, transport] (Table 1, col 3) • Part-done already, but three for you to do: A, B, C Clikapad Qs coming! - Q1. What is “A”? - Q2. What is “B”? - Q3. What is “C”? A

  9. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - Clikapad Qs 1-3 Q1. What is “A”? • Boyn Hill Gravel • Head • Plateau Gravel A

  10. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - Clikapad Qs 1-3 B Q2. What is “B”? • Brickearth • Boyn Hill Gravel • Clay-with-flints

  11. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - Clikapad Qs 1-3 C Q3. What is “C”? • Alluvium • Taplow Gravel • Head

  12. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - Recap C B • A - Plateau Gravel • B - Boyn Hill Gravel • C - Head • Also: - Alluvium - Coombe Deposits - Clay-with-flints A

  13. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit formation: - Exercise 1, column 2 Clikapad Qs coming! - Q4. Plateau Gravel, how did it form? - Q5. Boyn Hill Gravel, how did it form? - Q6. Head deposits, how do they form?

  14. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit formation: - Clikapad Qs 4-6 Q4. Plateau Gravel, how did it form? • Fluvial, high energy (mostly) • Marine beach • Residual lag, capping high ground • Fluvial, high energy (mostly) • Marine beach • Residual lag, capping high ground

  15. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit formation: - Clikapad Qs 4-6 Q5. BoynHill Gravel, how did it form? • Fluvial, high energy • Solifluction, downslope mass-movement • Fluvial, mixed high and low energy, with palaeo-landsurfaces • Fluvial, high energy • Solifluction, downslope mass-movement • Fluvial, mixed high and low energy, with palaeo-landsurfaces

  16. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit formation: - Clikapad Qs 4-6 Q6. Head deposits - how do they form? • Downslope movement, “sludging” • Fluvial, low energy • Aeolian/loessic accumulation, gentle wind-blown burial • Downslope movement, “sludging” • Fluvial, low energy • Aeolian/loessic accumulation, gentle wind-blown burial

  17. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit formation: - recap (filled-in Table 1, columns 1-3) • Coombe Deposits - fine-grained, slopewash, dry valley axis • C. Head - valley-side, can conceal other deposit types, multiple possibilities • B. Boyn Hill Gravel - varied, “churn”, & implications • A. Plateau Gravel - v early, so importance of derivation reversed • Clay-with-flints - residual lag on high-ground, vantage point and raw material source

  18. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, deposit types: - “Solid” geology, pre-Quaternary • Significantly pre-Pleistocene • Their own formation process pretty irrelevant • But: their character/topography can influence Pal behaviour and remains: • Also: unmapped Pleistocene deposits? - vantage point - raw material source (flint) - affect Pleistocene deposit formation - palaeo-environmental preservation

  19. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - site distribution and geological attribution • Identify presence (and concentrations) of known sites (or findspots) • Relate known findspots to their source deposit • Need to interpret most-likely geological attribution • Consider deposit formation processes, and implications for Palaeolithic importance • Consider possibility of unmapped Pleistocene deposits - (a) general potential of deposit types - (b) specific deposit outcrops in development footprint

  20. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - Exercise 2 (using Map 1, and “HER” info) • Start with HER source info in handout • Pinpoint sites on Map 1 • Identify their geological attributions, and write them in •  baseline info for consideration of deposit potential 2 4 3

  21. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - Interpreting geological attribution, considerations.. • Site 8 - Chalk bedrock? • Site 12 - London Clay? • Site 28 - Head? 8 28 12

  22. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - collate site info by deposit, consider process & importance • Exercise 3 (Table 1 - columns 4, 5 and 6) • Application of “Deposit-centred Approach” • Integrity? (stratigraphic, chronological) • Disturbance? (movement, spatial) • Importance? * Sources 8-10 (pp 11-13) • POTENTIAL = Likelihood x Importance * Sources 10-11 (p 13) Clikapad Q7: what is best overview of Integrity and Disturbance for Boyn Hill Gravel? • problem of “most-likely” vs “maybe”: fuzzy data, best guess, focus on key known aspects

  23. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - collate site info by deposit, consider process & importance Q7. What is best overview of Integrity/Disturbance for Boyn Hill Gravel? • High/Low • High/High • Low/High • High/Low • High/High • Low-High

  24. CAHO- Contracting 1 - Wider view, Palaeolithic background: - deposit general potential, two specific issues • Plateau Gravel • Solid geology, eg. Thanet Sand - several sites - similar formation process to fluvial terrace - mostly handaxes - uncertain provenance, in or on? - very important if in.. - more important if disturbed/reworked.. - numerous sites - unmapped deposits? - if so, what? - investigate to resolve uncertainty..

  25. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, thinking processes • Divide HS1 route into zones - “PCAs” - based on landscape and geological mapping • Consider what Palaeolithic remains are likely to be present: • Assess the POTENTIAL of each PCA: • Exercises 4-5 (Map 2, Table 2) - nature? - integrity? - disturbance? - likelihood? - importance?

  26. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, exercises PCA 2 • PCAs, division:Exercise 4 (Map 2; Table 2, columns 1-2) • PCAs, potential:Exercise 5 (Table 2, columns 3-4) PCAs 3-9 PCA 10 ?? x ?? = ?? PCA 11 Clikapad Q8: for PCA 10, what is best matrix of Likelihood x Importance = POTENTIAL?

  27. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, exercises Q8. For PCA 10, what is best matrix of Likelihood x Importance = Potential? • Low x High = MODERATE • Moderate x Low = LOW • Moderate x Very high = HIGH • Low x High = MODERATE • Moderate x Low = LOW • Moderate x Very high = HIGH

  28. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, exercises (Ebbsfleet area) Sch. Mon. PCA 3 PCA 4 ?? x ?? = ?? PCA 5 PCA 6 ?? x ?? = ?? PCA 7 PCA 8 PCA 9 Clikapad Q9: For PCA 3, what is best matrix of Lik x Imp = POT? Clikapad Q10: For PCA 6, what is best matrix of Lik x Imp = POT? • Points: - surviving deposits in quarried areas

  29. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, exercises (Ebbsfleet area) Q9. For PCA 3, what is best matrix of Likelihood x Importance = Potential? • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH • High x High/V high = HIGH/V HIGH • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH • High x High/V high = HIGH/V HIGH

  30. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - HS1 footprint: methods, exercises (Ebbsfleet area) Q10. For PCA 6, what is best matrix of Likelihood x Importance = Potential? • Uncertain x Very high = UNCERTAIN, & needing investigation • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH • Uncertain x Very high = UNCERTAIN, & needing investigation • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH

  31. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - Ebbsfleet Village (Ph 1): for discussion (not Case-study 2) Sch. Mon. 1 7 2 3 4 5 6

  32. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - Ebbsfleet Village (Ph 1): for discussion (not Case-study 2) Sch. Mon. Clikapad Q11: For PCA 4, what is best matrix of Lik x Imp = POT? ?? x ?? = ?? 1 7 2 3 4 5 6

  33. CAHO- Contracting 2 - Closer view, Palaeolithic Character Areas: - Ebbsfleet Village (Ph 1): for discussion (not Case-study 2) Q11. For PCA 4, what is best matrix of Likelihood x Importance = Potential? • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH • Moderate x ?High = UNCERTAIN/HIGH? [requires investigation] • Low x Moderate = LOW • Moderate x High = HIGH • Moderate x ?High = UNCERTAIN/HIGH? [requires investigation]

  34. CAHO- Contracting 3 - Post-DBA, evaluation and evolving PCAs: - Ebbsfleet Village (Ph 1): for discussion (not Case-study 2) Sch. Mon. • Not just a desk-based formality, start of a process • PCA 2, Boyn Hill Gravel - occurs much further south than BGS mapping (Sites A, B) 1 • PCA 4, “Head” (valley-side) - contained the HS1 Clactonian elephant site, in fluvial bank-side deposits, below mass landslip deposits (Site E) - also contains unmapped river terrace gravel deposits from palaeo-Ebbsfleet, heading north to join the Thames near Site B - another undisturbed Clactonian knapping site (D), c. 400,000 BP, higher up the valley side than the elephant - an undisturbed Late Upper Palaeolithic knapping scatter, c. 11,500 BP (Site C) 7 A 2 B 3 4 D E C 5 6

  35. Conclusions, Deposit-centred DBAs and PCAs: - discussion points CAHO- Contracting Clikapad Q12: What is significant about this site, Kings Cross Road? • models of site formation in terrace deposits - not just “disturbed” • addressing uncertainty? • following known high potential, or investigating whether potential? • problem of addressing rare but important remains: • the “London Question”.. Hackney Boyn Hill Taplow - the “Till Question 2”.. Lynch Hill Langley Silt

  36. Conclusions, Deposit-centred DBAs and PCAs: - “London”, and other major conurbations CAHO- Contracting Q12. What is significant about this site, King’s Cross Road? • Britain’s first recorded handaxe, found with an elephant skeleton in 1690 • Fresh condition handaxe, reliably provenanced to the Hackney Gravel • Both of the above • Britain’s first recorded handaxe, found with an elephant skeleton in 1690 • Fresh condition handaxe, reliably provenanced to the Hackney Gravel • Both of the above

  37. Conclusions, Deposit-centred DBAs and PCAs: - the “London” question: one final thought.. CAHO- Contracting

  38. Quiz Results! ^Team 01^ ^S01^ ^Team 02^ ^S02^ ^Team 03^ ^S03^ CAHO-Contracting Palaeolithic pre-construction archaeology Department of Archaeology

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