Assessing
Aggregates - Page 1 of 3THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ARCHAEOLOGISTS...
Assessing Aggregates in Worcestershire and protecting a finite resource
The study of the past through archaeology is not just about excavation. To excavate a site is to destroy it completely, ad infinitum. Once a site has been excavated it cannot be returned to, except through the records kept during the period of investigation. This means that we, as archaeologists, are dealing with a finite resource; one of our main aims therefore is to preserve the past as much as possible. This can often be in one of two ways. It can be either preservation through recording during excavation, or preservation through knowledge ahead of excavation.
By our forward understanding of what lies beneath the soil, we can aim to preserve as much of the archaeological remains as possible, for example, if a new development is to take place or a new road or pipeline is to be built we can work around any areas of major archaeological activity. However, this is only one side of the story. Counties often need to build new houses, expand roads or extract natural resources (such as coal, stone or aggregates) which they have to supply to the government and have quotas to fill every year. There must therefore be a pay-off - the excavation of sites ahead of expansion, development or extraction. This is particularly applies to natural resources and perhaps the most affected are aggregates deposits (sand and gravel - remnants of major changes in the landscape during the Ice Ages) which are used in road construction. The nature of these gravels means they were often heavily settled in the past, sometimes over hundreds and even thousands of years. The extraction areas for aggregates are therefore planned years in advance and provide an ideal opportunity for archaeologists to look ahead and assess the potential of archaeological remains that lie within these designated areas.
