Sutton Common Updated project design - University of Exeter

4 Methods statement
4.1 General statement
A central component of the post-excavation analysis is the use of GIS (which was already
used at both the design stage of the excavations and the excavations themselves) for
integrating the different data sources and for general analysis of information. The use of an
integrated GIS will enable us to provide specialists with the relevant information prior to their
analytical work, and will also enable rapid integration of the specialist reports.
Detailed statements on methods used by the individual specialists are presented in Appendix
2.
4.2 Task list
Task 1: Management of the project: financial administration, maintaining contact with all
members of the team, landowner and other stakeholders, providing progress reports to English
Heritage and general management of people and data.
Task 2: Analysis of archaeological data
• Task 2.1: Generate a spatial digital archive in a GIS format consisting of all site contexts,
recorded in plan. This will enable the efficient production of maps and plans from the site and
will provide an effective and re-useable archive for future use. In addition this will form the
basis for further analyses of the data that would not be feasible otherwise (see task 12).
• Task 2.2: Interpret the archaeological features, principally using the digital archive, crossreferenced
with the excavation archive
• Task 2.3: Produce initial (i.e. preliminary phased) plans of the site
• Task 2.4: Writing up of archaeological features, describing the main structures on the site,
following the outline provided in Table 2.
• Task 2.5: Provide all specialists with contextual information on all features, finds and samples.
• Task 2.6: Team meetings of archaeologists (RVdN, HC, WF) with environmental specialists
(AH, AO, BG, GA, GT, HK) at the beginning of the analysis in year 1 and after integration of
specialists reports (Task 12) in year 2
Task 3: Archaeological wood
• Task 3.1: Photography of a selection of the archaeological wood – this work should commence
as soon as possible as the material is generally in a poor state of preservation, and despite
submerging the majority of wood in a specially designed wet-tank in a cold and darkened
room, the microbial activity has not been halted
• Task 3.2: Drawing of details of selection of archaeological wood – similarly, this work should
commence as soon as possible
• Task 3.3: Writing up of wood technology etc, following the outline provided in Table 2.
Task 4: Dendrochronology and dating
• Task 4.1: Sampling archaeological wood for dendrochronology, immediately after tasks 3.1
and 3.2 have been completed
• Task 4.2: Dendrochronological analysis
• Task 4.3: Organise wiggle matching if dendrochronology fails to provide absolute dates
• Task 4.4: Writing up of dendrochronological dates, incorporating wiggle-matching if required,
following the outline provided in Table 2, and production of a CfA report
• Task 4.5: Radiocarbon dating of samples (cremations, pollen , invertebrate and plant
macrofossils)
• Task 4.6: Determination of an outline phasing based on this material;
• Task 4.7: Producing comments on any radiocarbon dates
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