Urchfont Hill, Urchfont, Wiltshire: Report on Geophysical Survey, April 2014
Author(s): Paul Linford, Andy Payne, Neil Linford, Zoe Edwards
A geophysical survey was conducted at Urchfont Hill, on the northern escarpment edge of Salisbury Plain above the Vale of Pewsey, as part of the Marden Environs NMP enhancement project, to locate and assess the survival of archaeological activity at the site indicated by aerial photography and metal detector finds in advance of limited excavation. Fluxgate magnetometer survey was conducted in a field of maturing rape crop (1.3 ha), together with more limited earth resistance (1.06ha) to help clarify the interpretation of the magnetic data. , A vehicle towed caesium magnetometer survey (2.9ha) was carried out over an adjacent field in grass where no damage to the crops would occur. Despite the very weak magnetic response art the site, the surveys successfully identified a probable trackway and further weakly defined anomalies that potentially represent traces of earlier field boundaries, field systems or enclosure ditches, some of which partly correspond to the aerial photographic evidence.
- Report Number:
- 29/2014
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 7
- Keywords:
- Caesium Vapour Earth Resistance Fluxgate Geophysical Survey Gradiometer Magnetometer Prehistoric Roman Total Field
