Savernake Forest : A Report for the National Mapping Programme
Author(s): Mark Bowden, Simon Crutchley, Fiona Small
This National Mapping Programme (NMP) survey was carried out with a dual purpose; part of the reason for the survey was to investigate an area of low monument density in an otherwise archaeologically rich landscape; the other aim of the survey was to carry out a structured analysis of the relative benefits of lidar and conventional photography in a largely wooded landscape. The project succeeded in both its aims; it added 324 new sites to the national record, more than doubling the number for the project area. It also produced detailed systematic results showing that neither lidar data nor standard aerial photographs on their own were able to give a full picture of activity within the forest area. Working with staff from Archaeological Survey & Investigation detailed ground survey was carried out on a chosen site that analysed the metrical and interpretative accuracy of the mapping carried out from the lidar data. Sites from the Neolithic to the Second World War were recorded, but it is not the aim of this report to attempt a synthesis of all available data, nor to provide an overall analysis of the archaeology of the project area either in terms of period or any given theme; instead it is intended to concentrate on the methodological elements of the project and to select only certain highlights of those archaeological remains recorded from the various periods.
- Report Number:
- 29/2009
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 67
- Keywords:
- Aerial Photograph Interpretation Analytical Landscape Survey Aerial Photography Lidar Survey National Mapping Programme
