floods, lakes, innundations etc.

[tom wilson]

Hello All,
could anyone out there direct me to any studies or guidance regarding what happens to archaeological deposits in areas that have been flooded in relatively recent times? How destructive is it for sites to be drowned undewater?

I presume there will be great differences in the effect depending on various factors:
age, site type, current level of preservation, burial depth, water pH, flow rate, etc.

I believe our American cousins have addressed stuff like this. I think the Peak District surveys have addressed this regarding the landscape flooded by the Ladybower Reservoir. Then there's hydro dams like the on Oxford did in (?)Turkey a while back. Somebody must have considered this issue in detail.

Cheers in advance.

TW

[1man1desk]

I am aware of a hydro scheme in West Africa, built some decades ago, where archaeological remains are affected.

The first of several dams (built around 1924) is surrounded by a large number of settlement platforms with orthostatic retaining walls, producing stone/quartz tools and pottery. The platforms and associated agricultural features are completely different in character from 'traditional' settlement types known in the area in the 19th-21st centuries. The sites were recognised in the late 1970's by one of the engineers on site, who showed them at the time to an archaeologist he knew, and to me around 1990.

Those platforms at or around the water surface level are clearly suffering some erosion, although surprisingly little since it has been going on for over 80 years. The number affected is increased by the very large seasonal fluctuations in the water level in the reservoir. This may be less of an issue in the UK.

It is to be presumed that there are more sites permanently below water, which will be covered with silt.

Unfortunately, the local archaeological authorities, when informed of these sites and shown some of the artefacts, expressed no interest whatever and told us to go away.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[m300572]

Not, perhaps, directly relevant to flooding sites that have not been flooded before but Somerset County Council, I think, have some information on the impact of changing (generally deteriorating) water quality on organic remains through monitoring the Sweet Track site.

[Oxbeast]

I would suggest asking Dr John Barnatt about Ladybower http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDet...=106709245

I've got no idea whether any specific research has been done on it.

I visited there four years ago, when the water level was supposed to be at a record low. A number of buildings were visible, with walls up to 1.5m high, though the rest of the buildings had collapsed inward. The church had been blown up with dynamite, so had fared rather worse. The silt seemed to be substantially thick, and rapidly drying out. This is a very low flow rate, and acidic water.