Thanks... was getting most disconcerted that the question was missing. anyways! Another thing to investigate another time
And here we have another non straight answer to a straight question
THere is no absolute to that as well as ther are many parameters to take into consideration.
So an area that has been rig and furrow ploughed may in fact mask archaeology beneath.. and will probably have made a mess of lithic scatters and the like though would still show that there was "stuff" there. However, depends if this was then not ploughed in ages. and is now grassed over pasture. Pasture can't be fieldwalked as you can't see what is on the ground. so is no good for fieldwalking. so when we talk about ploughed sites, it is usually a development area that is on active farmland.
Pasture land is usually stable and not under threat ( until of course it is developed)
There is a big difference between 200 year old ploughing and modern plough/ which is in part, part of the "issue" for thousands of years the plough was a horse drawn affair that reached a depth of c.30cm but now. the mega tractor is playing merry hell. and so in the past 50 years there is real damage. which is why "new" stuff is coming up on the surface.
SO it is very complicated What we mean is currently ploughed.
if it is pasture now. it is "safe" as it has not been ploughed by mega tractor.
If is is sod busted, potato ploughed. it is being badly eroded.
We can't walk pasture.
Metal detecting can help. but we would need non -discrim. and concentrations of activity highlighted.
oh .... and we do worry about topsoil
And here we have another non straight answer to a straight question
Quote:what do we mean by ploughed and does it matter if it was ploughed 200 years ago as opposed to 5?
THere is no absolute to that as well as ther are many parameters to take into consideration.
So an area that has been rig and furrow ploughed may in fact mask archaeology beneath.. and will probably have made a mess of lithic scatters and the like though would still show that there was "stuff" there. However, depends if this was then not ploughed in ages. and is now grassed over pasture. Pasture can't be fieldwalked as you can't see what is on the ground. so is no good for fieldwalking. so when we talk about ploughed sites, it is usually a development area that is on active farmland.
Pasture land is usually stable and not under threat ( until of course it is developed)
There is a big difference between 200 year old ploughing and modern plough/ which is in part, part of the "issue" for thousands of years the plough was a horse drawn affair that reached a depth of c.30cm but now. the mega tractor is playing merry hell. and so in the past 50 years there is real damage. which is why "new" stuff is coming up on the surface.
SO it is very complicated What we mean is currently ploughed.
if it is pasture now. it is "safe" as it has not been ploughed by mega tractor.
If is is sod busted, potato ploughed. it is being badly eroded.
We can't walk pasture.
Metal detecting can help. but we would need non -discrim. and concentrations of activity highlighted.
oh .... and we do worry about topsoil