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Community Heritage
Recent Project: Washingborough
The Washingborough Witham Valley Survey - an exciting new archaeological project
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| A 4 metre slice of sediment drawn up from the prehistoric River Witham and captured in the auger |
The Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire, the Environmental Archaeology Consultancy and Washingborough Archaeology Group have been out undertaking an extensive archaeological survey of the Witham Valley in Washingborough.
The aim of the survey is to chart the changing course of the ancient river, reconstruct past environments and gain an understanding of how people used the river valley and its resources over the last 10,000 years. As well as discovering new information, a detailed understanding of the valley landscape through time will provide a context within which to interpret the many sites, monuments and finds that are recorded in this section of the Witham Valley.
We are using two survey methods, field walking and auger survey to gather archaeological and environmental information. Field walking records archaeological artefacts in the ploughsoil. Auger survey records the sediments beneath the ground surface. The data gathered in the field will be combined with detailed information about the present topography of the valley, and information from historical maps. This will help us with our interpretations and build a very comprehensive picture of the history of this part of the valley.
The survey is still ongoing, but every time we go out into the field, new and interesting discoveries are made. If you want to keep up to date with the project, or join in, have a look at our website www.washingborough-archaeology.co.uk
Acknowledgements
This project is taking place because of the generosity and support of all the landowners in the Washingborough survey area, and with funding from the Environment Agency and English Heritage.
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Aerial image of the Washingborough Witham Valley survey area.
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(Image size: 1020 x 500 pixels)
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| Field walking. A typical winter Sunday morning for WAG! |
A fine late Neolithic flint arrowhead found during field walking. This could have been lost in a fowling expedition more than 4,000 years ago. |
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| Examining and recording the sediments in the auger. |
Pushing the auger into the ground to collect a sample of the sediments beneath our feet. |
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| One of the more mysterious and exciting finds so far from field walking. A very similar shaped stone was recently uncovered in the nearby excavations at Washingborough Pumping Station. The excavated example was found in association with metal working evidence such as a crucible and a copper ingot. It is possible these shaped stones were used as portable for fine hammering of sheet copper or bronze. |
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