Geoarchaeology is concerned with the study of sediments associated
with human occupation at site and landscape scales. It is a focused
and science-driven branch of archaeology which draws on specialists
from a variety of disciplines to develop sophisticated reconstructions
of past environments and human activity.
Geoarchaeological method also underpins the study of human behaviour
in deep time. It allows evidence of our earliest ancestors to be isolated
from the sediment record of the ice-age which contains the traces
of Palaeolithic (Early Stone Age) habitation in Northern Europe. It
is perhaps our best tool for understanding the close inter-relationship
between human activity and environment. It allows us to directly investigate
issues as diverse as long-term climate change, the environmental impact
of early agriculture, the effects of early industrial activity or
hunter-gatherer foraging patterns.
Archaeology South East offers a comprehensive geoarchaeological service
providing detailed desk-based assessments of potential, targeted mitigation
projects and large-scale geoarchaeological field surveys. Building
on the expertise derived from the long-established Boxgrove
excavations and associated Raised
Beach Mapping Project, ASE can offer the combination of a leading
specialist fieldwork team and access to the UK’s foremost environmental
specialists. Given our long-term background of work with the aggregate
extraction industry, most recently with the Valdoe Assessment Survey,
we are expertly placed to advise and assist with large scale projects
requiring the consideration of Geoarchaeological or Palaeolithic potential
at an early stage.
We offer the following services:
• Desk-top geoarchaeological assessment including subsurface geological
modelling and visualisation.
• Monitoring of geotechnical work to provide early indications of
potential.
• The
implementation of purposive borehole, trial pit or window-sample
surveys.
• Assessment of Palaeolithic potential in river gravel and other
aggregate contexts.
• The
recovery of in-situ stone age archaeology from fine-grained contexts.
• Landscape VR visualisation services.
• Assessment of waterlogged, anaerobic contexts.
• Holocene geoarchaeological assessment.
