8th November 2005, 05:34 PM
I would feel fairly happy with a 2% sample of such difficult to define archaeological remains over such a large area. No percentage is going to be perfect, only a complete topsoil strip would reveal everything. There is also the question of what questions this evaluation is planned to answer.
"A programme of additional archaeological investigation has been agreed in principle between Tarmac, North Yorkshire County Council and English Heritage for the Ladybridge Farm site. The principal objective of this investigation is to define the limit of Neolithic/Early Bronze Age features recorded previously in the south western corner of the Ladybridge Farm site and further to characterise the nature of those remains. Every effort will be made to ensure that this additional sampling has the minimum destructive impact on the archaeological remains whilst achieving the stated objectives. The investigation will be followed by an assessment of the significance of the archaeological deposits. This assessment will be based on the criteria set out in PPG16 and will use an accepted methodology which will include the English Heritage Monument Evaluation Process (MPP). This assessment will serve as a guide to professional judgement."
Which basically means that they need to know the extent of the settlement so that it can be avoided/excavated/scheduled etc at a later date. This is obviously not intended to answer every question about the settlement, merely inform on what types of deposits and monuments are present.
"A programme of additional archaeological investigation has been agreed in principle between Tarmac, North Yorkshire County Council and English Heritage for the Ladybridge Farm site. The principal objective of this investigation is to define the limit of Neolithic/Early Bronze Age features recorded previously in the south western corner of the Ladybridge Farm site and further to characterise the nature of those remains. Every effort will be made to ensure that this additional sampling has the minimum destructive impact on the archaeological remains whilst achieving the stated objectives. The investigation will be followed by an assessment of the significance of the archaeological deposits. This assessment will be based on the criteria set out in PPG16 and will use an accepted methodology which will include the English Heritage Monument Evaluation Process (MPP). This assessment will serve as a guide to professional judgement."
Which basically means that they need to know the extent of the settlement so that it can be avoided/excavated/scheduled etc at a later date. This is obviously not intended to answer every question about the settlement, merely inform on what types of deposits and monuments are present.