BAJR at Water Newton

[BAJR Host]

Well ... its time to fess up...

A Metal Detecting rally is to take place at Water Newton from 17-19th August - and will be televised on the One Show (BBC 7pm) with Neil Oliver.

What does it mean? why si it happening... why am I organising the largest archaeological recording? So far we have 5 FLOs, 2 Finds Experts, 4 pro Archaeologists, 1 Heritage expert, 7 student volunteers and 4 detecting volunteers and er... me! 250 detectorists will be conducting a legal rally, on an area which is a blank on the HER... plenty of potential for archaeology, but not much known... all artefacts will be recorded using GPS (5m accuracy) and only from the plough soil... a full report and finds database wil be created and presented to the HER and many finds donated to the local museum.

Normally in archaeology we go straight through the ploughsoil to untouched archaeology... so this will be recording the artefacts that we normally miss.. (or find in the spoil) and with grid ref data... This has not been easy... and I am not making money out of this... or trying to forward my career.. I'm just trying to show that we can work together... adn properly organised from the start (this was a learning exp!) useful archaeological data can be recovered....... its funny.... when we work on a pipeline... or a development site... we go in... strip the site... dig a sample and move on.... job done... mitigation sorted... here is community archaeology ... the real thing...

As I have said... this is a first... and much can be learnt... from contact with HER through to joining up with local groups to ensure joined up projects... If anyone is feeling like being on a first (and who knows... if it can't work.... the last I will eb involved in... though I would not do this if I thought it would fail) get in touch... Meet people who care passionately about heritage... talk... discuss... and work with me...

What do you feel ... think.... be frank... (I know you will) and I will defend... time to speakout

are we archaeologists or people who remove temporal contamination from the front of bulldozers??


"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[tom wilson]

just to save us all going and looking it up, where is Water Newton?

[BAJR Host]

west of Peterborough tutherside of Great North Road... c. 500 metres from Durobrivae Town.

The detecting is taking place on fields that have no known sites

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[achingknees]

Well done mate. Good luck to you all.

Next task Hercules...perhaps with the next pipeline/housing development/quarry etc you can write into the design brief some pre-stripping metal detection?

[BAJR Host]

Thats a good point.... we don't even look at the topsoil as standard... maybe detect the spoilheap.. ! with some notable exceptions. thanks for support.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[the invisible man]

As a matter of interest, not a criticism, but why only 5m accuracy?

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

[BAJR Host]

No... please ask...

the reason for 5m accuracy is the locational data for finds within ploughsoil has been shown to be around 5m accuracy from original location... The ploughsoil finds, if showing 'clustering' will be representative of a site beneath... so they would be indicitive of subsurface sites... like fieldwalking in transects... where finds are located in squares.. 10 or 20m in size.

For a survey such as this 5m accuracy would be enough to indicate site beneath... for a battle site though metre accuracy would be a minimum...



"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[the invisible man]

Thanks Hosty, that makes sense - it was the reference to GPS that made me wonder (hand held or diff?) plus I thought I've seen here that MD's are usually (or sometimes) asked to record to a greater accuracy, 10 or 12 figure grid refs. Again, I have no axe to grind - not even a palstave - and I'm not criticising anyone, a genuine thirst for knowledge!



You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

[BAJR Host]

and thats the way to be.... there are enough with palstaves to grind, who don't ask serious questions like your own. Handheld... as you ask... diff GPS or Total station would be used if greater acuracy was required.. or.. gridding... though again that does not give the accuracy..

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[Sith]

Not to denigrate your efforts at digger / detector integration, but would the presence of so many detectorists be partly the result of the third Google result on Water Newton containing the word "Treasure".

Ahrr! Pieces of Eight, shiver me ranging rods etc.

[:p]

D. Vader
Senior Consultant

Vader Maull & Palpatine
Archaeological Consultants

Your powers are weak, Curator