4.13 The Central Archaeology Service (1 of 7)
The role of the Central Archaeology Service is to secure the objectives set out in English Heritage's agenda for archaeology, as advised by AMAC and agreed by Commissioners, which was published as Exploring our Past: strategies for the archaeology of England (1991). The CAS has two major functions: to initiate, advise, and monitor performance on commissioned archaeology projects, and to carry out for English Heritage a wide range of archaeological projects of all types, and particularly those of national importance. Through its work, the CAS contributes to policy formulation, and develops, sets, maintains, and disseminates the highest professional methods, techniques, and standards. The CAS also provides a rapid response capability to meet the managerial needs of English Heritage, and promotes English Heritage's aims, objectives, and strategies in archaeology by informing the profession and the public. During 1997-98, work was carried out on a wide variety of projects, fulfilling a range of different strategic and management objectives.
Wessex Barrows, survey and excavation for management
The broad aims of this project are to assess the archaeological value and potential of a selected group of barrows with regard to the Monuments Protection Programme criteria; to gain an appreciation of the value of flattened barrows in the Wessex area, to establish the limits to archaeological information that can be gained from this type of monument in a flattened condition in broadly similar topographic and geological areas; to explore and develop fieldwork methodologies and techniques; and to experiment with new procedures. Preliminary fieldwork and geophysical survey has taken place, preparatory to test pitting and field evaluation planned for 1998.
Birdoswald Study Centre, conservation and management of part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site
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In 1997, Cumbria County Council were successful in their application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop the disused farm buildings in the north-west corner of the Hadrian's Wall Fort of Birdoswald as a residential study centre for the Wall. The Central Archaeology Service were retained to undertake the archaeological work associated with this development because of their previous and very detailed experience of the site. The results of the work will be fully incorporated in the next phase of on-site interpretation.
The area to be developed amount to 10% of the fort interior, and virtually all of the western praetentura. In June, evaluation work confirmed the survival of much Roman stratigraphy, although this was heavily truncated by levelling when the farm was built in the eighteenth century. The first phase of archaeological work took place in December and January, exploring the interiors of the standing farm buildings.
This work confirmed the existence of the Hadrianic basilican building, which had been discovered in 1989. It also revealed a third-century barrack and officer's house, which had been converted from a Hadrianic barrack block. The officer's house was equipped with a private privy, and an elaborate system of drainage. It appears that during the fourth century the building was converted into a number of small structures, including a building with a western apse. The latter building strongly resembles an apsidal structure at Housesteads, recently tentatively identified as a church. These buildings were to be further examined in summer of 1998, when the farmyard areas were excavated in preparation for the installation of services, and wholesale resurfacing.
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Black Carts, Northumberland, conservation and management of part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site
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During June and July 1997 a small excavation was mounted at Black Carts on Hadrian's Wall (Wall Mile 29). The work was initiated to examine the extent of damage to the earthworks of the wall caused by stock and rabbits, and to gather information on the preservation of archaeological deposits in order to inform the preparation of a management agreement with the landowner. The opportunity was taken to examine in detail the level of preservation of environmental data within the pre-Wall soils sealed by the banks of the Vallum, and the counterscarp bank to the north of the Wall ditch.
The work took the form of a staggered section through all of the components of the Wall system except for the Military Way. Beneath the Vallum bank, ard marks were discovered, confirming pre-Wall agricultural use. Above these were hoof prints, though whether these were of horses or cattle could not be determined. Pollen survived in countable quantities in soil horizons beneath the Vallum and the counterscarp. The principal discovery relating to the morphology of the Wall system was the fact that the rock-cut Wall ditch consisted of a narrow, shallow gully, and was made to look more substantial by means of a rock-built counterscarp. In contrast, the Vallum ditch, which was also rock cut, was three metres deep and six wide. The different treatments of the two ditches will require further study.
Owmby-by-Spital, Lincolnshire, conservation and management of a plough damaged site
Fieldwork at this scheduled Late Iron Age and Roman settlement continued into a third year in 1997. Data collection, building upon earlier work, consisted of:- a resistivity survey to augment the previous magnetometry
- small-scale topsoil stripping and excavation to characterise selected magnetic anomalies, and to examine reasons for differential depths of soil cover
- the deployment of metal-detecting over an extensive area as a contrast with previous sampling strategies
- a third episode of metal-detecting over the same 30m and 50m squares to determine the practicality, benefits, and resources associated with the total removal of metalwork from cultivated soil
- re-plotting of the locations of previously inserted glass chips to examine the lateral movement of artefacts in cultivated soil
- repeated field walking of selected areas to determine the degree of variability in surface-collected material under differing collection conditions and after several agricultural cultivations
- trial of a methodology for the concurrent recording of vertical agricultural disturbance
Resources within the project are presently concentrated on the primary recording and conservation of the material assemblage. Forthcoming fieldwork will continue with the study of strategies that might deter or mitigate the effects of illegal metal-detecting, and with the examination of the impact of agricultural disturbance on subsu rface features and material assemblages within cultivated soils.
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