Selected projects
4.19.15 Humber Wetlands survey - Vale of York
The value of wetland research to archaeology, in particular the preservation of organic remains in the anoxic environments within wetlands, has long been recognised by English Heritage, and for many decades it has supported a national programme of survey of this important archaeological resource. Following the completion of work in the Somerset Levels, the East Anglian Fens, and the wetlands of north-west England, the wetlands in the Humber basin are currently being surveyed. The Humber Wetlands Survey is based at the Centre for Wetland Archaeology at the University in Hull and is carried out by a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, palaeoenvironmentalists, and palaeoecologists. The project employs a range of techniques to study the seven subregions of the Humber wetlands in turn; from 1994 to 1997, it completed and published its work in Holderness, the Humberhead Levels, and the Ancholme and lower Trent valley. In 1997-98, the wetlands in the Vale of York were surveyed, including selected parts of the Rivers Ouse, Wharfe, Aire, and Derwent, as well as a large part of the Humber foreshore between Trent Falls and Hull.
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The research of the Humber foreshore was particularly successful and by the end of the survey more than 40 prehistoric and medieval sites had been discovered. These include fishweirs and fishtraps, trackways, and platforms. Some sites consist of little more than a few stakes, but some prehistoric sites remain completely intact, and from one medieval or post-medieval fishweir over 750 stakes were recorded. All work in the intertidal zone was undertaken from a rigid inflatable boat, necessary to work safely within the Humber, which has a maximum tidal range of 7m. However, this approach also provided opportunities to access areas outside the range of the ordinary field walker. Sites were positioned using a differential global positioning system (GPS), providing accurate three-dimensional data in an environment where benchmarks are absent. Where necessary, exposed sites were recorded with digital photography.
Two sites were partly excavated, both on the foreshore at Melton, where recent and rapid erosion has contributed to the wholesale destruction of several archaeological sites. Both sites were trackways, built of woven hurdles of hazel and alder, which were pegged in the ground by stakes. The contemporary environment of the hurdled trackways was saltmarsh, a valuable landscape for fishing, wildfowling, and as pasture for cattle. Samples of both trackways indicate a date in the Middle Bronze Age, c 1400 cal BC. During this time, the sea-level rose steadily in the Humber area, which resulted in the landward extension of tidal creeks. It is likely that the trackways were built to provide access across such creeks. The excellent preservation of the timber stakes and hurdles is a reflection of the wet environment in which they were built. The excavation attracted widespread interest from national, regional, and local press.
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Elsewhere in the Vale of York, little evidence was found for early prehistoric occupation, with pollen evidence suggesting a near-intact forest canopy until the Bronze Age, when settlement became more frequent. In the Roman period, settlements are known from the river corridors, and the survey's discoveries included a previously unknown Roman period ladder-settlement at Sutton-upon-Derwent, which was found during field walking. The site was subsequently studied by geophysical survey (undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory), trial excavation, and palynological analysis. The location of the site on the bank of the River Derwent reinforces the importance of waterways in the Roman period.
The results of the survey will be published in 1999, and recommendations for the future management of the most important archaeological sites and landscapes will be made. These recommendations are likely to include proposals for in situ management where possible, and continued research where such preservation is not feasible.