Illuminating the darkness
Using geochemical survey in archaeological reconnaissance and evaluation for major infrastructure developments
Keywords:
Prospection, Geochemistry, Infrastructure, EvaluationAbstract
Abstract: High resolution geochemical survey offers professional archaeology a new means to evaluate the presence and/or absence of archaeological deposits. Innovation in XRF technology has allowed the instrumentation to be miniaturised and powered by portable battery systems. This now allows for the in-situ analysis of archaeological soils and sediments and the rapid processing of data to better inform mitigations strategies as they happen. The method undertakes the mapping of chemical variability across a site or landscape and the detection and identification of chemical anomalies. Unlike geophysical prospection which tends to quantify a single property (i.e. magnetic flux or electrical resistance), geochemical prospection relies on the detection of up to 34 chemical elements, each of which is largely independent of geophysical properties and with many elements being, in part, the result of an anthropogenic contribution to soils. It is argued that geochemical spatial survey offers an independent method of detecting archaeology and can increase the confidence with which archaeological deposits are identified or areas declared as being devoid of archaeology otherwise known as “blank areas”. While geochemistry can offer a novel and independent means of prospection, it is best deployed in tandem with geophysics and/or other techniques such as field-walking, multi-spectral imaging, or LiDAR. The uptake of high resolution geochemical survey by the sector will allow archaeologist better target archaeological deposits in response to research priorities.
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