Wet Dig
SLR Consulting are carrying out pioneering scientific studies into the preservation of waterlogged historic remains in situ.
Working closely with archaeologists at Hanson Building Products Ltd’s Must Farm clay pit, in Cambridgeshire, the consultancy has been assessing the properties of sediments that have preserved Bronze Age timber structures, to devise a strategy to protect them.
Hanson’s land and planning manager, Tim Darling, said: ‘As soon as the remains were unearthed, we agreed to leave the site out of the extraction area and built a protecting bund between the works and the remains. This acts as a barrier to water flow, so that the ancient site can remain wet.’
SLR have put together a management plan to safeguard the future of the 3,000-year-old remains, including a monitoring scheme designed to alert Hanson’s on-site team to any changes in the burial environment.
Working closely with archaeologists at Hanson Building Products Ltd’s Must Farm clay pit, in Cambridgeshire, the consultancy has been assessing the properties of sediments that have preserved Bronze Age timber structures, to devise a strategy to protect them.
Hanson’s land and planning manager, Tim Darling, said: ‘As soon as the remains were unearthed, we agreed to leave the site out of the extraction area and built a protecting bund between the works and the remains. This acts as a barrier to water flow, so that the ancient site can remain wet.’
SLR have put together a management plan to safeguard the future of the 3,000-year-old remains, including a monitoring scheme designed to alert Hanson’s on-site team to any changes in the burial environment.
