Geophysical Survey

CFA Archaeology Ltd was commissioned to assess the archaeological potential of survival of subsurface remains on a c.2.6ha area of land in Castleford, West Yorkshire. A detailed magnetic gradiometer survey was successfully undertaken across the whole site using a hand-pushed cart carrying the Sensys MXPDA 5 probe fluxgate gradiometer attached with a RTK DGPS to geo-reference each datapoint. The geophysical survey identified several anomalies of potential archaeological origin, including both strong and weak anomalies in the form of linear, rectilinear, and curvilinear features.

The team conducted a magnetometer survey across approximately 11.2 hectares of land. Several anomalies were recorded towards the northeastern corner of the site, including a former field boundary which corresponds to a field boundary identified on historic Ordnance Survey mapping and orientated roughly N-S; and two further linear anomalies which were undetermined in origin and interpreted as modern field drains and a geological feature. Ferrous spikes were noted across the entire site, but these were most likely caused by the presence of ferrous (iron) objects.

CFA Archaeology Ltd was commissioned to undertake a geophysical (magnetometer) survey across eight areas of land to allow for subsequent phases of trial trenching to be agreed in East Lothian. An initial c.14ha of detailed magnetic gradiometer survey was successfully undertaken across, using a hand-pushed cart carrying the Sensys MXPDA 5 probe fluxgate gradiometer attached with a RTK DGPS to geo-reference each datapoint. The geophysical survey detected a range of anomalies across all the areas, mostly related to modern truncations of agricultural activities with other anomalies identified as ferrous spikes, geological disturbance, and magnetic disturbance.

Approximately 1.6 hectares of land were subjected to a magnetic gradiometer survey. Several areas of possible archaeological remains were identified, including sub-circular anomalies and pits. A large area of magnetic disturbance to the north of the site is likely related to the construction of a canal which runs adjacent to the north and east of the site.