SUTTON CONSERVATION SOCIETY – ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG PROJECT
ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 21ST FEBRUARY 2004 : 9.30 am – 2.00 pm
SUTTON COMMUNITY ROOM
Programme
9.30 – 9.40 Welcome & Introduction
Gill Shapland, Chairman of the Dig Project
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Click on the picture to see a bigger image Gill Shapland opens the Conference. |
9.40 – 10.30 “Desktop Research : what you can find out without getting your knees dirty”
Jane Logan of Sutton, Dig Project Committee Member
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The first speaker was Jane Logan, member of the ADP committee, who has been doing the desktop research for the project. She showed us her very first archaoelogical trowel, now reduced to half it's original size by her enthusiastic efforts in the field! Jane outlined what desktop research involves, and listed the many sources of documentary evidence available. During her research it became apparent that there wasn't much information about the pre-history of Sutton at all! Whilst some people may have found this off-putting, Jane wasn't daunted, and took the attitude that anything we discover will therefore be a valuable addition to the currently limited material available. She also expressed her delight at discovering a booke entitled "The Fenland Project, Number 10: Cambridgeshire Survey, Isle of Ely and Wisbech East Anglian Archaeology Report no 79" which covers the area of Sutton. Several copies of this were sold to the audience, probably on the basis that it had "changed my life" - not bad for £19.50! Jane concluded by saying that whilst it was interesting to accumulate all this information, there was no point at all unless it was published and made available to all. We eagerly await her report, and subsequent dig reports in the years to come. |
10.30 – 11.15 “Interpreting and mapping aerial photographs”
Roger Palmer, Air Photo Services, Cambridge
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The next speaker was Roger Palmer of the Air Photo Servives, based in Cambridge. His very visual talk on "Interpreting and mapping aerial photographs" was extremely interesting. Roger outlined the methods involved in aerial photography, the use of obliques and verticals, and showed many examples of the different landscape features that show up under different conditions. He also showed photos that had been taken of "our barrow" known as Sutton 7. The final section of Rog's talk provided much entertainment, as the audience were invited to don 3D coloured glasses so as to see the 3-D effects that can be produced using special photography techniques. |
11.15 – 11.45 COFFEE and informal discussion of topics raised
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Click on the picture to see a bigger image Coffee Break. |
11.45 – 12.30 "Protecting Cambridgeshire's prehistoric funerary and the importance of Sutton"
Diura Thoden van Velzen, English Heritage
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After a welcome break for coffee and biscuits, the talks resumed with Diura Thoden van Velzen of English Heritage talking on "Protecting Cambridgeshire's prehistoric funerary remains and the importance of Sutton". It was Diura's original work in the area for her PhD thesis that lead to the formation of the Sutton ADP via Tim Reynolds, then County Archaeologist for Cambridge. Diura outlined the known pre-historic barrow sites in Cambridgeshire area, and explained in some detail how many of these sites, even if scheduled as protected monuments by the Sites and Monuments Record, are still being damaged. Ploughing and peat shrinkage in the fens inevitably lead to removal of barrow material - barrows in the fens rarely stand pround of the land surface, unlike those seen in areas such as Salisbury Plain. She emphasised that work by groups such as the ADP is an important way of recording information that would otherwise be lost forever in a matter of years. She hoped that if our first site proves a sucess we can go onto excavate other barrows in the area that are being eroded by ploughing. Mr Lee and Mr Bull (the landowners) were present, and gave their full support for activities such as fieldwalking and possible future digs to record as much information as possible. |
12.30 – 1.15 "Geophysical surveying techniques"
Alasdair Philips of Sutton
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The final speaker was Alasdair Philips talking about Geophysical Survey Techniques. Alasdair outlined the various different techniques that can be used to survey a site without disturbing the ground, and showed examples of the kind of information that can be obtained from methods such as resistivity surveys, and magnetic imaging. He brought along some of the equipment used to show the group, and suggested that along with aerial photos, geophysical surveys could provide useful information about larger areas of land, and perhaps help to direct where future digs could take place. |
1.15 – 2.00 COFFEE and an opportunity for general questions and discussion
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There then followed a general discussion and more coffee and biscuits. It was mentioned that the ADP has established a small lending library (for details contact Liz Hawkins 777735) that will be available to all members. We are in the process of arranging dates for the first digging season, starting in April. If you are interested in digging or helping out on site, please pass your details to Laura Wood (ADP Secretary) who will contact you with more information. |