13. Fieldwork at Harnhill (April 2011) Excavation of a boundary ditch at Cherry Copse Trenches manually excavated and recorded prior to sampling and probe installation
14. Fieldwork at Harnhill Not everything went as planned! Pipes in ditch at Quarry Field ….. but samples were collected and probes installed at both Quarry Field and Cherry Copse
15. Fieldwork at Harnhill (installation of monitoring equipment) Inserting a probe into the (non-archaeological) part of the section in Quarry Field The monitoring equipment under construction
16. Planned excavation and probe installation strategyfor Diddington Plan view Machine excavated trench Ditch Cross section view Present soil c. 0.30m ‘Geology’ ‘Geology’ Ditch fill Step 1. Trench surveyed in and present soil removed by machine to the level of the underlying geology / top of the uppermost ditch fill. Artefacts are recovered.
17. Strategyfor Diddington Plan view Cores inside ditch Machine excavated trench Cores outside ditch Ditch Hand excavate ditch fills Cross section view c. 1.00m Present soil c. 0.30m ‘Geology’ ‘Geology’ Ditch fills Step 2. Ditch fills are removed separately by hand until the ‘geology’ is reached. Artefacts recovered from each ditch fill are kept separate. Total station/GPS measurements are taken on the surface of the ‘geology’ to produce a surface model. Cores collected.
18. Strategyfor Diddington Plan view Machine excavated trench Ditch Cross section view c. 1.00m Present soil c. 0.30m 1.2m Ditch fills ‘Geology’ Step 3. Machine excavate trench to 1.2m depth across its entire area.
19. Strategyfor Diddington Plan view Hand and machine excavated trench Ditch Cross section view Present soil 1.2m ‘Geology’ Monolith samples Step 4. Draw and photograph both long sections. Collect geoarchaeological and geotechnical samples. Mark sample locations on section drawing and photograph in situ.
20. Strategyfor Diddington Plan view Machine excavated trench Ditch Cross section view Present soil 1.2m Data logger, batteries etc. ‘Geology’ Sensors Step 5. Install monitoring equipment (on opposite long section from the monolith samples) Step 6. Machine backfill trench and compact