Internet Archaeology 5. West Heslerton Assessment. 2.6.2

2.6.2 General methods and project objectives

It was agreed at the outset that the most cost-effective method of excavation was very large area stripping followed by area cleaning, feature identification and partial excavation to recover a consistent data-set. The computerised archive was generate d as far as possible in the field during the excavation, rather than through secondary input off-site. The scale of the excavation and the need to ask questions with regard to site function and formation processes necessitated the instigation of a 3D recording system that was applied to c.80% of the artefacts and ecofacts recovered; the remainder were recovered using a variety of alternative techniques including large-scale wet- and dry-sieving and rapid trowelling with bulk extraction of the finds. The use of a variety of different recovery methods not only saved much valuable time in some areas of the excavation, but offers the opportunity for a more detailed evaluation of the potential of the different methodologies when applied to large open-plan rural settlements in general. The development of a rigorous data collection policy culminated in 1995 with the 3D recording of more than 120,000 individual finds in that season, a recovery rate which owes most to the dedicated efforts of the team on site running the total station, often for more than 12 hours a day. The combined application of the total station and hand-held computers in the field, coupled with the results of a remarkable sequence of geophysical surveys made possible the day-to-day refinement of the excavation strategy required to ensure that the work could be completed with the available resources.

During 1991, experiments in the use of high-resolution gradiometer surveys undertaken after the topsoil was removed were undertaken and indicated that significant details could be identified before they were visible during excavation. During 1995 the w hole excavation area was re-surveyed after removal of the topsoil, producing a highly detailed plan which was used to assist in the isolation of target areas and particularly for the recovery of stratigraphic data. The pre-excavation plan derived from the high-resolution survey certainly contributed towards our ability to complete the overwhelming amount of work undertaken in 1995, as at all times the potential of the remaining areas was clear even prior to detailed cleaning (Lyall and Powlesland 1996).