The Interface of Geophysical and Geochemical Survey: Towards an Understanding of Geophysical Data Quality in Challenging Scottish Archaeological Sites

Cuenca-Garcia, C. (2010) The Interface of Geophysical and Geochemical Survey: Towards an Understanding of Geophysical Data Quality in Challenging Scottish Archaeological Sites. In: Near Surface Geophysics Group (NSGG) Day Meeting: Recent Work in Archaeological Geophysics, London, England, 15 Dec 2010,

Abstract

Geophysical and geochemical techniques have been widely applied to detect and investigate archaeological sites. Integrated geophysical survey plays a major role in the discovery and exploration of archaeological sites. Geochemical survey also provides valuable information on the location of sites, but it also has the potential of determining source and spatial extent of past human activities and in investigating the use of space in archaeological sites. Both approaches have tended to operate independently of each other but their interface can be of great help in order to understand the capacities and limits in detection of different near-surface geophysical techniques for archaeological prospection. This poster will introduce an on-going NERC PhD research project which explores this interface by characterising the geophysical response of common archaeological features in terms of chemical signatures and soil properties to comprehend why that geophysical response varies in quality. This should allow a more confident prediction of the most appropriate survey strategy to be used at archaeological sites lying in challenging soil environments. The research is focussed on archaeological sites in Scotland which lie in contrasting drift soils and have existing data records (geophysical and/or geochemical surveys, aerial photography, excavation records). Integrated geophysical surveys and geochemical sampling are currently being undertaken. The different geophysical responses will be determined with respect to soil moisture content, texture, conductivity and geochemical composition to evaluate the performance of the different geophysical techniques used.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Keywords: Archaeological geophysics, geochemical survey, archaeological prospection, Scottish archaeology
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cuenca-Garcia, Dr Carmen
• Authors: Cuenca-Garcia, C.
• Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology; Q Science > Q Science (General)
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Research Group: Near Surface Geophysics Group (NSGG)
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2010 The Author
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with permission of Author

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