14th February 2009, 02:19 PM
for a DBA should you consult every single map of your study area or just key maps (e.g. OS, estate maps)?
Discuss!
There is not a simple answer to this. A DBA is a summary of known information about an area of land. In reality most DBAs will simply contain a mix of OS mapping and possibly a tithe map or estate map. Commercial pressures thus dictate what material will be considered.
In reality it is not possible to consult every historic map of an area ? there are too many. I have seen getting on for 100 maps for South Oxfordshire and the village I live in and I am still coming across new ones. There is however for example little point in looking at 1:10000 plans when 1:2500 of the same date are available. In contrast until a map has been looked at you won?t know if it is going to be of use.
Maps have been produced for about 400 years and thus they are telling us about post medieval and modern land use rather then archaeology proper ie the medieval, roman and prehistory. They may however depict earlier features which are no longer present.
For any given situation what maps can contribute varies enormously I have used them for example:
1.To plot the position of a Roman town ditch (Speed Lincoln or London in general)
2. To locate the extent of cemeteries
3. To locate areas of disturbance in important archaeological sites
4. To check the accuracy of documentary records
5. To map changing meanders in a river
6. To map where ancient shorelines were
7. To help interpret geophysics and APs
The size of the land holding you are looking at will also dictate what can be achieved in looking at the historic maps.
I divide maps into 2 types for a DBA ? those that show buildings, individual fields and similar as opposed to those that don?t. I would suggest that any map which shows such features of interest should therefore be looked at. These will generally date from about 1800 onwards except in some towns. Earlier maps are worth consulting in order to:
1. Check for the presence of things such as parks and mills
2. To date road systems
But I would restrict this to the larger maps of Speed, Morden and Cary and similar.
In towns the situation is very different when there are usually too many maps, and what is required is a range of maps and I restrict myself to the ones showing the most detail for each 25 year period.
The interpretation of historic maps is far from easy often the true meaning of the symbols is not known. There are often pictorial elaborations ? on the Speed town plan for Lincoln the Cathedral is turned through 90 degrees so that the map fits on the paper.
Similarly last week I looked at an estate map where the sizes and shapes of the fields are accurate but the positions of the roads and buildings on surrounding land are not. Even interpreting early OS plans can be difficult ? buildings can be demolished and replaced with a building on the same footprint which cannot be detected from maps alone.
In a nutshell ? No, every map cannot be considered. In the commercial environment we work in, doing anything other than putting in photocopies of maps at different scales will mean that the cost of the work is such that a single bid for a DBA will not be won.
I have to say I think that we massively undervalue what maps can contribute because their interpretation is a specialist activity in the same way as interpreting APs. The sooner curators specify that more detailed map analysis should be undertaken the better.
Peter Wardle
Discuss!
There is not a simple answer to this. A DBA is a summary of known information about an area of land. In reality most DBAs will simply contain a mix of OS mapping and possibly a tithe map or estate map. Commercial pressures thus dictate what material will be considered.
In reality it is not possible to consult every historic map of an area ? there are too many. I have seen getting on for 100 maps for South Oxfordshire and the village I live in and I am still coming across new ones. There is however for example little point in looking at 1:10000 plans when 1:2500 of the same date are available. In contrast until a map has been looked at you won?t know if it is going to be of use.
Maps have been produced for about 400 years and thus they are telling us about post medieval and modern land use rather then archaeology proper ie the medieval, roman and prehistory. They may however depict earlier features which are no longer present.
For any given situation what maps can contribute varies enormously I have used them for example:
1.To plot the position of a Roman town ditch (Speed Lincoln or London in general)
2. To locate the extent of cemeteries
3. To locate areas of disturbance in important archaeological sites
4. To check the accuracy of documentary records
5. To map changing meanders in a river
6. To map where ancient shorelines were
7. To help interpret geophysics and APs
The size of the land holding you are looking at will also dictate what can be achieved in looking at the historic maps.
I divide maps into 2 types for a DBA ? those that show buildings, individual fields and similar as opposed to those that don?t. I would suggest that any map which shows such features of interest should therefore be looked at. These will generally date from about 1800 onwards except in some towns. Earlier maps are worth consulting in order to:
1. Check for the presence of things such as parks and mills
2. To date road systems
But I would restrict this to the larger maps of Speed, Morden and Cary and similar.
In towns the situation is very different when there are usually too many maps, and what is required is a range of maps and I restrict myself to the ones showing the most detail for each 25 year period.
The interpretation of historic maps is far from easy often the true meaning of the symbols is not known. There are often pictorial elaborations ? on the Speed town plan for Lincoln the Cathedral is turned through 90 degrees so that the map fits on the paper.
Similarly last week I looked at an estate map where the sizes and shapes of the fields are accurate but the positions of the roads and buildings on surrounding land are not. Even interpreting early OS plans can be difficult ? buildings can be demolished and replaced with a building on the same footprint which cannot be detected from maps alone.
In a nutshell ? No, every map cannot be considered. In the commercial environment we work in, doing anything other than putting in photocopies of maps at different scales will mean that the cost of the work is such that a single bid for a DBA will not be won.
I have to say I think that we massively undervalue what maps can contribute because their interpretation is a specialist activity in the same way as interpreting APs. The sooner curators specify that more detailed map analysis should be undertaken the better.
Peter Wardle