D How do you compile, maintain and enhance an HER?
| D.1 Compilation - the beginnings | D.3 Compilation from basic sources | D.4 Keeping up to date with fieldwork | D.5 HERs and enhancement projects | D.6 Case studies of HER enhancement projects |
Contributors: Tony Austin, Victoria Bryant, Tom Dawson, Kate Fernie, Paul Gilman, Stuart
Jeffrey, Neil Lockett, Jason Lowe, Peter McKeague, Robert Mowat, Damian Robinson, Peter Rowe, Jeff Spencer, Carol Swanson, Alison Tinniswood.
Maintaining and developing an HER is a continuous process that involves various types of work. At
any one time, new information may be received from recent fieldwork about
changes or additions to the lists of protected sites, or through project work.
Numerous different organisations and individuals are involved in the process of
collecting and supplying information, and with the increasing use of GIS and
on-line access, new ways of making a wide range of data accessible to HERs are
beginning to emerge.
This section of the manual gives general guidelines
for maintaining and developing the information resources of an HER and suggests
some new approaches to recording information from development-led fieldwork and
some ideas for enhancement projects. For the purpose of this manual this topic
has been broken down into three areas:
·
Compilation from standard digital and
documentary sources of information
·
Fieldwork and digital data collection
·
Enhancement projects such as national
projects and programmes, local partnerships, universities and special interest
groups
Case studies of some recent HER enhancement projects
are also included.
D.1 Compilation - the beginnings
The information in most HERs has been compiled over a
long period of time. Much of it was collected before the use of databases let
alone GIS and this has greatly affected how we can use it in the present.
For most HERs compilation has been a complex process
involving collecting information from a wide range of sources including
national agencies, local bodies and private individuals. When SMRs were
developing in the 1970's and 1980's three stages of information collection were
envisaged: compilation, enhancement and ongoing maintenance.
In reality, the development of the information base
held by HERs has been more ad hoc.
The resources available for compiling information have varied considerably from
one HER to another and also over time. A mixture of permanent and temporary
staff (funded from, for example, local authorities, English Heritage, Historic Scotland, Cadw, RCHME,
RCAHMS, RCAHMW and the Manpower Services Commission, National Trust),
volunteers and students have been involved in compiling and enhancing SMRs and
HERs. In many of the present HERs increasing responsibilities for development
control activities, the pressure of work arising from planning guidance and
limited resources have given rise to backlogs of information waiting to be
compiled and input into the HER database. The purpose of this section is to step
back from the backlogs and take a fresh look at the range of information
sources that is available and to consider old and new approaches to
incorporating it into HERs.
D.2 How does your recording policy fit in?
Section B. 4.1
recommends HER officers to prepare a recording policy. This document should identify both the
sources of information that are locally available to the HER and also provide a
framework to identify gaps or weaknesses in the information base (this may have
already been provided by an HER Audit, see section B.2.4). HER officers are recommended to make
reference to their recording policy when planning programmes of work to
maintain or enhance the record. When
planning to incorporate either new material or information held in backlogs,
some key issues to consider are:
·
Does the information provided lie within the sphere of
interest of the HER, or has the information a more natural home elsewhere?
·
Does the information provided by a source contain
enough detail to meet the HER’s requirements and the HER Basic Compliance
Specification set out in Annex 1 of Benchmarks for Good Practice? (Chitty 2002).
·
Does the information duplicate existing material in
the HER?
·
Could the information be more easily acquired from
another source?
·
Can the information be incorporated into the HER
without extensive additional work?
·
How high a priority is this new information in
relation to your research framework?
·
Does the material involve the acquisition of physical
archive? If so is it original material, in which case is the HER the most
appropriate body to hold it after incorporation? Is digital archiving required?
Reference should be made to the HERs collection and disposal policy for archive
material.
D.3
Compilation from basic sources
| D.3.1 National heritage datasets | D.3.2 Compilation from documentary sources | D.3.3 Recording Maritime Heritage | D.3.4 Compilation from digital sources | D.3.5 Approaches to compilation from basic sources |
There are several standard sources of information that all HERs should
incorporate. The OS record cards
provided the basic starting point for most.
In some cases SMRs recasting projects created computer records from the
OS cards, in other cases digital data was supplied from the appropriate
National Monuments Record.
D.3.1 National heritage datasets
A key information source for HERs is details of sites in their areas
that are either under some form of statutory protection or that are registered
as being of special interest or at risk.
This information is maintained by English Heritage as part of its
statutory functions (Historic Scotland and CADW within their respective
countries). HERs and Historic Buildings
Records should all routinely receive paper notifications of changes and
additions to schedulings or listings (in Scotland this information is supplied
digitally by Historic Scotland).
England
Digital data from the national
heritage datasets will be available to HERs in the future under licence from
the NMR. These datasets include:
·
AMIE: a historic environment database of sites, monuments, buildings, archives, archaeological/architectural
interventions and surveys in England and its territorial waters
·
Record of Scheduled Monuments (RSM):
a
database of scheduled monuments in England
·
Listed Building System (LBS): a database of the lists of buildings
of special architectural and historic interest in England maintained by English
Heritage on behalf of the DCMS
·
Parks and Gardens Registration
System (PaG): a database of the register of parks and gardens of historical interest
in England
·
Battlefields Register: the register of battlefields of
historical interest (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/battlefields)
·
Buildings at Risk (BAR) Register: a database of grade I and II* listed
buildings and upstanding scheduled monuments identified as being at risk of
deterioration or loss (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/bar).
Many local authorities keep their own BAR register for grade II listed
buildings.
·
Protected Wrecks: a list of protected wreck sites in
English coastal waters
·
Desk GIS: provides a corporate Geographical
Information System with integrated access to historic environment data such as
the RSM, LBS, AMIE and PaG both spatially and textually. HSIS enables the
capture, display and analysis of statutory and non-statutory data in context
with other geographic data
·
Controlled Sites and Protected Places: Designated under the 1986 Military Remains Act. NB All crashed military
aircraft are covered by this Act.
·
List of World Heritage Sites: a list of World Heritage Sites in
England.
·
National reference datasets managed
by the Data Standards Unit: includes the Thesaurus of Monument Types, Thesaurus of
Building Materials, administrative area lists.
The adoption of nationally agreed
data standards and indexing terminology by HERs, means that it is becoming
easier for digital data to be provided in a standard format ready for
incorporation into HER databases (see D.4.3).
The are also a number of key web-based initiatives aimed at the online
dissemination of historic environment data:
LB Online
(http://lbonline.english-heritage.org.uk/)
provides
up-to-date access to the statutory Lists of Buildings of Special Architectural
and Historic Interest and is made available by English Heritage and the DCMS.
The site is currently for the staff of Local Planning Authorities, National
Amenity Societies and some other authorised government agencies.
Images
of England (http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/)
Images of England is a groundbreaking heritage initiative funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage. The project aims to create a 'point
in time' photographic record of every listed building in England. The
photographs, taken by hundreds of volunteer photographers, are being posted
alongside existing list descriptions for each building to create what will be
one of the largest free to access digital image libraries in the world with
over 300,000 images when complete.
PastScape
(http://www.pastscape.org/homepage/index.html) is a prototype web site developed by English Heritage’s National
Monuments Record (NMR), which provides an easy-to-use method of accessing
information taken directly from the NMR's national historic environment
database (AMIE) containing nearly 400,000 records on the archaeology, monuments
and buildings of England and its territorial waters. These records contain
descriptions of any interesting archaeological details, pictures (where
available), and links to maps and aerial photographs on other websites.
MAGIC (http://www.magic.gov.uk)
this interactive map-based site, launched in July 2002, combines information on
key environmental schemes and designations. The site is the result of a
partnership project between seven government organisations with responsibilities
for rural policy-making and management. Users are able view and query the
available data sets through the use of standard GIS tools.
ArchSearch (http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/collections.cfm)
or http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue provides an online search catalogue to collections containing details
of around 1,000,000 sites, monuments and interventions in the UK, or other
locations where UK-based archaeologists work. It also links to a growing number
of digital archives and electronic publications.
Wales
Similarly a number of national
digital data sets are available to HERs in Wales. These include:
·
Scheduled Ancient Monuments
database: a database of scheduled monuments in Wales maintained by Cadw on behalf
of the Welsh Assembly Government.
·
Listed Building database: a database of the lists of buildings
of special architectural and historic interest in Wales maintained by Cadw on
behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
·
Parks and Gardens Register: a database of the register of parks
and gardens of historical interest in Wales maintained by Cadw.
·
Historic Landscapes Register: a database of the register of parks
and gardens of historical interest in Wales maintained jointly by Cadw and the
Countryside Council for Wales. The Register
can be viewed on the CCW web site.
·
Protected Wrecks: a list of protected wreck sites in
Welsh coastal waters.
The
Extended National Database for Wales (END). http://www.rcahmw.org.uk/nmrw/extdbs.shtml, The END is based on a partnership
of Welsh heritage bodies, including the
RCAHMW, the Archaeological Trusts of Wales, Cadw and the National Museums and
Galleries of Wales (NMGW). who have created a national index of archaeological
and architectural information. The information encompasses NMRW's site
database, the Sites and Monuments Records held by each of the four
Archaeological Trusts, and Cadw's scheduled monument and listed building
database. CARN (http://www.rcahmw.org.uk/data/carn.shtml)
is being developed as the entry point
to the END.
The RCAHMW has made a selection of
information from the NMRW available on the Internet through the on-line Coflein
database. This is currently available only in English but a Welsh Language
version is planned.
Scotland
Historic Scotland provides a digital
version (in Shape File format) of the Scheduled Ancient Monument designations
for use within a GIS. This information provides an indication of the legally
protected extent, the statutory designation remaining within the paper
document. Listed building information is available via Pastmap (see below).
Pastmap (http://jura.rcahms.gov.uk/PASTMAP/start.jsp)
is a map enabled query system for Scottish National
Archaeological and Architectural Datasets (Listed Buildings, Scheduled Ancient
Monuments, National Monuments Record of Scotland, Historic Gardens and Designed
Landscapes and some Sites and Monuments Records). This site, curated for the
Scottish Ministers, is a partnership project between Historic Scotland and the
RCAHMS, and also incorporates a dataset managed by
Historic Scotland (Inventory of Historic Gardens and Designed
Landscapes).” Scottish Ministers have just transferred sole
responsibility for compiling and maintaining the Inventory to HS. Pastmap is being further
developed with the Scottish SMRs as active partners, and the site hosts GIS
data from several SMRs, with a view to having full coverage within 3 years
time. A link to HLA data is also available through this portal (See case study
in E.5.11)
D.3.2 Compilation
from documentary sources
In common
with the OS record cards and the National Archaeological Record (NAR), most
English SMRs were first compiled by trawling through information published in
specialist local and national journals, monographs and thematic gazetteers to
identify references to sites and monuments. Additional information was obtained
from local museum and society records and from documentary archives, including
the archives of local researchers, such as antiquarians, OS correspondents and
others. Documentary and cartographic archives remain valuable sources for HER
revision and enhancement. In Scotland where initial compilation in most cases
took place later than in England, it was generally undertaken via a download of
digital data from the National Monuments Record for Scotland.
Commonly used
documentary sources
It is not
possible to include a complete list of the many publications that are specific
to an area or research topic. However,
the following list provides a summary of documentary sources commonly used in HERs:
·
Local
monographs and journals
Antiquarian
monographs specific to the county
Domesday
book by county
English
Place Name Society: place names of the county
Monographs
specific to the county
Local archaeology
society(ies) journal series
Local
historical and local studies groups journal series
Leaflets and
pamphlets relating to local sites and areas
RCHME county
inventories
RCAHMS
Inventories
RCAHMW
county inventories
Victoria
County History: volume specific to the county
Pevsner's The Buildings of England and Wales series:
volume specific to the county
The Rutland Press Illustrated Guides Scotland (The Rutland Press is the publishing division of the Royal Incorporation
of Architects in Scotland)
·
Regional
monographs and journals
BAR British
Series: topical research related to the region
CBA Regional
Group publications
Regional
archaeology and history society journal series
·
National
monographs
National
thematic publications
Medieval
Towns
Margaray‘s Roman Roads of Britain
English
Heritage/RCHME topical publications
English
Heritage Batsford series
CBA research
reports
Scottish
Burgh Survey
Historic
Scotland Batsford series
Cambrian Archaeological Association Monographs
·
National
journals
BAR national
series
Antiquity
Britannia
Archaeologia
Antiquaries Journal
Journal of Roman Studies
Archaeologia Cambrensis
Studia Celtica
Medieval Archaeology
Medieval Settlement Research Group
Post Medieval Archaeology
Vernacular Architecture Group
After the Battle
Landscape History
Association of Industrial Archaeologists Journal
Current Archaeology
International
Journal of Nautical Archaeology
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland
Scottish Archaeological Journal
Discovery and Excavation in Scotland
·
Other
Hydrographic Office Wreck Index.
Lloyds
List
Parliamentary Papers
State Papers
Shipwreck Index of the British Isles
Air Britain publications
·
Aerial
Photographs
Vertical
and Oblique coverage from 1945 onwards from the Cambridge University Collection
of Air Photos (CUCAP)(http://venus.uflm.cam.ac.uk/)
Vertical
coverage from c 1940 onwards: available from the NMRs
Oblique
coverage from 1930 to the present: available from the NMRs/HER/others
·
Maps
OS 1st
edition, early editions and large-scale town maps
Enclosure,
Tithe and estate maps for the area
Historical
maps for the area where available
D.3.3 Recording Maritime Heritage
Background
The United Kingdom has the third longest coastline in Europe
and comprises some of the most varied historic landscapes in the British
Isles. From the Prehistoric to the
present our coastline and its waters have served as a source of food,
transport, trade, industry and means of defence. Rising sea levels from the end
of the last Ice Age, subsequent coastal erosion and high numbers of ship wrecks
have led to a large proportion of our coastal heritage disappearing beneath the
waves. In the past maritime and marine aspects of the historic environment have
been generally poorly represented on HERs,which were focused on terrestrial
features.
The coastal zone
The coastal zone comprises three
important sub-divisions: -
·
Zone 1 - Dry Land: This lies above high water mark.
Archaeological remains typically include such coastal installations as
docks, jetties, harbours, coastal settlements and defences.
·
Zone 2 – Intertidal: This lies between the high
and low water marks. Remains that might
be recorded here include stranded vessels, fish traps, piers and partly exposed
ancient landscapes.
·
Zone 3 - Sub-tidal: This stretches from the low
water mark to the boundary of territorial waters, currently set at 12 nautical
miles. This is a vast area of almost
completely unknown potential, principally consisting of submerged landscapes
and shipwrecks.
Many HERs will have good coverage for Zones 1 and
2 within their existing data sets.
Archaeological remains in these areas can be easily identified using
traditional methods such as beach walking and map regression and can be
investigated between the window of the tides using standard techniques
including survey and excavation. However, given that local authorities have no
jurisdiction beyond the mean Low Water Mark, very few HERs will have coverage
for Zone 3. This was the situation for Teesside in the early 1990s. To redress the balance a project was
instigated in 1994 to enhance the existing coastal dataset with particular
regard to sub-tidal information.
Adding maritime data to an HER
There are a number of key factors to
consider when planning a maritime element to an HER.
·
Defining
Boundaries – The sea is not divided into convenient
administrative areas like the land and local authorities do not have powers
below low water mark However, some HERs are developing maritime components and
becoming involved in providing advice on marine archaeological features. Neighbouring Local
Authority HERs should discuss how County/District boundaries will be extended
in the form of arbitrary quasi-administrative areas Planning powers in Scotland do
not currently extend beyond the low watermark – see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/environment/coastalforum/scotscoast.asp#4
for a discussion of the current framework for coastal management in Scotland)
·
Data
structure – Traditional HER data structures can be used to cover the majority of
remains in Zones 1-2 adequately and drowned landscapes in Zone 3. However problems arise when attempting to
enter shipwreck sites that require additional or extended glossary controlled
fields to record new units of data not associated with terrestrial sites. In the Tees HER this was achieved by adding
supplementary tables to create ‘vessel’ specific data fields. The supplemental data is split in to three
broad categories: -
1. Locational
information - new fields include, Latitude, Longitude and Admiralty Chart
Number.
2. Voyage
information – new fields include, ‘Sailed from’, ‘Bound for’, ‘Cargo’, ‘Owner’
and ‘Master’.
3. Construction
information – new fields include, ‘Construction method’, ‘Where built’ and
‘Tonnage’.
·
Data sources – To create
a sub-tidal HER source material should be identified and assessed, after
consultation of the maritime component of the NMR for English HERs. As a baseline HERs should seek to consult: -
·
Hydrographic Office Wreck Index
·
Lloyds Shipping Registers
·
Parliamentary Returns
·
Lighthouse Returns
·
19th and 20th century local
newspapers
·
Previously published and archive material at local
museums, archives and libraries
·
Wreck Diving guides
·
Larn and Larn, Shipwreck
Index of the British Isles. (Larn and Larn 1995a, 1995b, 1997, 1998 and
2000).
The vast majority (95 per cent) of vessel data in the Tees HER was
derived from these sources.
To enhance the initial dataset the
HER may consider:
·
Contacting local sub-aqua clubs and the fishing
community
·
Checking pilot and lifeboat records
·
Carrying out data collection in the field
Conclusion
Prior to the start of this project there were three recognised
‘maritime’ sites on the Tees HER: two prehistoric canoes from the Tees and a 19th
century vessel stranded on a local beach.
At the end of the project a total of 2,243 new records had been entered
into the database for the short 30 kilometres stretch of Teesside coastline. Other English
coastal HERs should also endeavour to capture such datasets and combine
sub-tidal data into their systems to form a ‘seamless’ archaeological
record.
In Scotland the RCAHMS gathers
maritime information centrally and distributes it to the relevant SMRs as part
of the on-going data exchange programmes.
D.3.4 Compilation from digital sources
The number
of digital sources available to HERs is expanding rapidly. By using GIS digital
sources data can be displayed against traditional HER information and the
relevant data can be included without the whole dataset being recast. Digital
sources vary enormously but can be divided into two main types
Heritage
data sets
In addition
to statutory datasets (SMs and LBs) noted above, these can include
the results of projects such as the Portable Antiquities Scheme or large scale
survey projects for example funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund,
English Heritage or Historic Scotland
In the past individual HERs had little influence over the data structure
of such digital sources, limiting their effective integration. Many HERs did
not have the staff time to allow them to recast the data correctly, resulting
in backlogs. This meant that the resources created by such projects were
underused. This problem has been recognised and is now being addressed in
England by greater consultation with the EH NMR Data Standards Unit and HERs at
the project planning stage and by the development of interoperability standards
such as the FISH toolkit.
In Scotland in 2004 all Scottish SMRs, RCAHMS, Historic Scotland and the
Scottish archaeological contracting units took a joint decision that reporting
of archaeological events should conform to a standard form and procedure. The
result is ASPIRE, an Archaeological Standard Protocol for the Integrated
Reporting of Events. ASPIRE rigorously specifies data structure, data type and
required fields for reporting new archaeological information to SMRs and the
RCAHMS. This specification includes databases and GIS layers and encourages
their use. From late 2005 the use of the ASPIRE protocol is enforceable via the
development control process nationally as well as being a condition of
grant/contract for HS funds. In addition its use is actively promoted and
encouraged for non-commercial archaeological events such as academic and
amateur surveys and excavations.
In addition
HERs may wish to incorporate digital information from other HERs to provide a
better context for the data they manage. Examples of this might include the
incorporation of a city UAD into a county HER or a buffer zone of HER data from
adjacent local authorities around a county or district HER boundary. Such
information would be viewed but not curated by the receiving HER and would not
affect the management responsibilities of the reciprocating organisations.
In Wales the
vast majority of such datasets arise from Cadw and RCAHMW sponsored projects
and in general have been better integrated into HERs from the outset. However,
similar data exchange issues do exist here.
See also section C.8.1 on online sources.
Useful Web sites for heritage data
sets
Archaeology
Data Service, ArchSearch: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/index.cfm
Great
Britain Historical GIS Project: http://hds.essex.ac.uk/gbh.asp
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/
MAGIC: http://www.magic.gov.uk/
For Scotland
many historical maps are available online on the National Library of Scotland
web site http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/index.html.
Roy's Military Survey of Scotland 1747-55 (surveyed) is available
online on the SCRAN website subject to subscription
Non-Heritage
data sets
Through a
corporate GIS HERs may have access to a range of other digital datasets which
can be used in conjunction with HER data without needing incorporation into the
record (see also Part E). These could include information produced by national
bodies such as the National Soil Survey and the British Geological Survey or
information produced by local or regional government such as habitat maps,
hedgerow surveys, aerial photographic surveys. It is worth speaking to
colleagues in other departments to see what they hold. In many cases different
services within one authority would benefit from access to the same digital
data and the cost of purchasing data sets can be split.
Useful web sites for non-heritage
data sets
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/digitalmaps/digmapgb.html
http://www2.getmapping.com/home.asp
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/
D.3.5 Approaches to compilation from basic
sources
In most
areas, there is an almost endless supply of potential documentary and digital
sources. New journals and archives
become available, new datasets are created or the breadth of the HER
information base is extended to cover new topics. Many HERs have identified large quantities of sources that might
be trawled, but it is difficult to estimate how any particular source will
benefit the scope and information content of the HER without accessing the
material.
A better
approach might be to plan to maintain the HER incorporating information from
field projects and to enhance the breadth and scope of the HER through
enhancement projects. Both strategies
will use documentary and digital sources.
D.4 Keeping up to date with fieldwork
D.4.1 Existing digital resources
Since 1978,
the NMR (England) has been compiling its Excavation Index, which currently
holds records for over 76,000 archaeological interventions in England. These
include interventions dating from the earliest episodes of scientific
archaeology to the present day (see C.7.3).
Information has been collected from a variety of sources (including
HERs) and combines bibliographic recording with direct input from reports,
recording forms and microfilm archives.
The scope of the Index covers both invasive (excavation, evaluation,
watching brief) and non-invasive (geophysical survey, desk-based assessment,
field-walking and measured survey) methods of investigation. The Index provides both a record of the
event that has taken place and acts as a signpost to the archaeological
features identified and the associated documentary and archive sources. Since 1998 a sub-set of the Index has been
made available on the internet (Figure 27) via the ADS Catalogue (see http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue).
Figure 27: ADS web page – Excavation Index
[English Heritage and the Archaeology Data Service 2007]
Since 1990,
English Heritage has sponsored Bournemouth University to conduct an annual
data-collection exercise, the Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP). The results of the exercise have been
published as The Gazetteer of
Archaeological Investigations in England,
issued as an annual supplement to the British
and Irish Archaeological Bibliography. The
database compiled to produce these printed volumes has been deposited with the
NMR (England).
The merger
of the RCHME and English Heritage in April 1999 brought with it an opportunity
to integrate the Excavation Index and The
Gazetteer of Archaeological Investigations
into a single resource. This
concordance was made possible through the OASIS project, an alliance between
English Heritage, the AIP and the ADS, with funding from the Research Support
Libraries Program (RSLP). OASIS aims to
create a single index to the grey literature of archaeological assessment
reports and excavation archives in England, which will be delivered via the ADS
ArchSearch catalogue The OASIS project has developed an on-line recording form
and aims to promote its use by contractors so that they can submit index-level
records of archaeological investigations to the NMR and the relevant HER. (See
section C 7.3)
Useful website:
OASIS
project http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/oasis
There is
currently no equivalent Excavation Index covering Scotland. Currently fieldwork
is reported annually through the Council for Scottish Archaeology’s Discovery
and Excavation in Scotland publication. Some SMRs transfer Discovery and
Excavation data into an Events module, but data is also transferred into
the RCAHMS NMRS database and supplied to the relevant SMR as part of an
on-going data exchange programme. The current extension of OASIS to Scotland
will help develop indexes both locally and nationally.
D.4.2 Planning guidance and new fieldwork
Since
the advent of planning policy guidance for archaeology (PPG16 England, Circular
60/96 Wales, and NPPG 5 and PAN 42 in Scotland), archaeological consultants and
field units have carried out much of the archaeological fieldwork in Britain on
the basis of competitive tendering. The
contractors operate to briefs or specifications developed by archaeologists
working alongside the HER in local government planning offices. As well as specifying the archaeological
research, briefs will normally include recommendations covering the deposit of
material resulting from the research. In England this includes data and reports
to be deposited in the HER, finds and archives deposited in local museums or
other repositories and computer-based information to be deposited in a
recognised digital archive. In Scotland the SMRs by custom and practice require
the deposition of the original site archive (for example the paper, photographic
and digital records) for long-term preservation with the RCAHMS, whilst copies
of all reports are deposited in the SMR. For artefacts the Treasure Trove
Advisory Panel (who provide independent advice to the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer) decides
the appropriate depository.
HER
officers should work with planning archaeologists to make sure that their
requirements are taken into account in specifying how, when and in what format
information will be deposited with the HER.
Formats for data collection
Creating
an index record to an event or archive should not place a new burden on units -
it is work that many already do and that since 1997 has been supported by the
Standing Conference of Archaeological Unit Managers (SCAUM). Standard record forms for collecting
information from units have been developed by the Greater London HER, SCAUM,
the English NMR, the AIP, Northamptonshire HER and others. Where used, these paper forms have met with
some success in improving the flow of information from data collector to HER.
However,
using paper forms means that HER officers often have to re-key the information
provided by the units. To minimise
duplication and decrease data-entry backlogs, the use of digital forms has been
explored. The OASIS form is one
example, another was recommended in the ADS Guide to Good Practice for
Excavation and Fieldwork Archives (http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/excavation).
Digital versions of the paper forms described above have also been produced
either as tables in word-processed documents, spreadsheets or simple databases.
The
use of digital forms is not trouble free and several factors should be taken
into account in agreeing specified formats for digital data in briefs. These include:
·
agreeing guidelines on how the standard recording form
is to be completed
·
agreeing guidelines about the collection and provision
of metadata
·
the format in which digital data is to be supplied,
for example, ASCII delimited text, Access.
·
the electronic media on which data is to be
transferred (see also B.10.7).
The ADS can offer advice on digital data transfers (help@ads.ahds.ac.uk). The NMRE offer
guidance on the use of the OASIS form (oasis@english-heritage.org.uk
).
HER officers
should set aside time to validate and enhance data. This may include:
·
confirming that the data is being supplied in
accordance with core HER data standards
·
checking that the data supplied has not been corrupted
during transfer and is readable
·
checking for spelling or data-input errors
·
checking the data supplied against the written reports
·
adding additional indexing information and other
details.
While such forms are being introduced HER officers may
need to allow time to work with both planning archaeologists and contractors to
make sure that information is flowing efficiently from data collector to the
HER.
For Scotland
see section above (D.3.4) re ASPIRE
D.4.3 Importing digital data from external sources
Strategies for physically moving data between geographically removed
locations
Various
forms of electronic storage media are used to move data around. An important consideration is that both
sender and receiver need to use a shared technology for successful data
transfer:
·
Tape has now been largely superseded as a transfer
medium, mainly because few systems contain Digital Audio Tape (DAT) machines
today.
·
Standard 3.5 inch floppy disks can be used to transfer
small amounts of data (1.44mb).
·
Compression software can be used to produce zip files
(for PCs) and tar files (for Unix systems) which increase the capacity of
floppy discs. See http://www.pkware.com for information about PKZIP.
·
CD ROMs and DVDs can transfer up to 650mb of data for
CDs and 4.7 Gb for DVDs and are becoming commonplace as CD and DVD writers
become more widespread. See http://cd-info.com for information about CDs and
DVDs.
·
High-capacity floppy and Zip drives may also be
used. For information see http://www.winzip.com/winzip.html.
·
Files may be transferred between users as attachments
to email messages. File transfer is not
without its problems as many mail servers refuse files over a certain size and
'bounce' messages back to the sender.
There are also security implications as e-mall attachments are
notoriously vulnerable to viruses.
·
File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) is an efficient way of transferring data but requires
technical support. FTP is a
communications program used to link source and destination systems, in which
either the sender or receiver logs on to a remote system to effect a
transfer. Security issues mean that
many system administrators restrict access from outside although they may set
up an area where files can be placed for transfer. For information about FTP see http://www.ftpplanet.com/ftpresources/basics.htm
Strategies for importing data into
existing databases
Where the data is to be imported
into an existing dataset there are a number of concordance issues:
·
The new data need to be in a format acceptable for
import to the software maintaining the existing database. ASCII delimited text is a standard export
format for transfer into databases. In
this format, a delimiting character separates the contents of the fields in a
database record, for example a comma, percent or hash. Care must be taken to select a delimiter
that is not present in the data. Most
database applications support a number of import and export formats to
facilitate the transfer of data between packages: for example as well as
delimited text, Microsoft Access also supports import of data from other Access
databases, Excel, Lotus, Paradox, Foxpro, dbase, Btrieve and SQL.
·
There needs to be a clear mapping between the new data
and the fields that define the structure of the existing database. Where possible, the HER should specify the
fields for data capture.
·
The new data should conform to any vocabulary control
or data standards that have been agreed for the main database. Vocabulary lists should be supplied with the
new data, particularly where codes are used.
Candidate terms identified in the new data may need to be put forward
for addition to existing wordlists or thesauri.
·
The new data needs to be validated and may need to be
edited or manipulated to conform with agreed core-data standards for the HER
using search and replace functions.
Much
of this can be achieved through the use of FISH Tools MIDAS Schema (see Section
B 6, 7 for details). The Forum for Information Standards in Heritage (FISH) has
undertaken a project to develop a toolkit of formats schema and protocols for
data held in historic environment information resources (HEIRs).
These tools will
help with:
·
The provision of digital data from
one organisation to another,
·
The provision of data to the public,
·
The archiving of digital data,
·
The migration of data to new systems,
·
Conformance to national standards.
The 'FISH interoperability toolkit' development
project will provide the heritage data community with an essential infrastructure
of shared standards. It has the potential to improve access to information for
all.
Useful Websites:
FISH: www.fish-forum
FISH Interoperabilty Toolkit www.heritage-standards.org
D.5 HERs and enhancement
projects
| D.5.1 National projects and programmes | D.5.2 Local authority partnerships | D.5.3 Local groups and societies | D.5.4 Universities | D.5.5 National Thematic Recording Projects | D.5.6 Finding out more |
For HERs the
maintenance of the basic information base from standard sources and fieldwork
is a continuous process. As well as
this day-to-day work, HER managers are recommended to plan enhancement projects
to fill gaps and enhance the quality of their records. Such gaps in content or issues concerning quality are often identified
by HER Audits (see B.2.4). In some cases the need for enhancement to comply
with national standards will be considered to be so important that it is made a
priority and funded from core budgets. An example of such a project can be
found in Section D.6.1. In other cases different strategies for record
enhancement can be adopted, some involving participation in national projects
and programmes, some working with other departments within local authorities,
others working with local societies and specialist-interest groups.
Grants for SMR
enhancement from Historic Scotland currently prioritise fulfilment of PASTMAP
objectives. Historic Scotland may also provide initial start-up funds for
the provision of an archaeological service at a Local Authority that was
previously without one.
This section
aims to present examples of some types of projects and programmes that are
currently collecting information about aspects of the historic
environment. Some case studies of
projects run by HERs are also included.
D.5.1 National projects and programmes
At any one
time, English Heritage, Cadw and Historic Scotland may be involved in a number
of projects and programmes which are developed in response to research and
knowledge of the resource. Many of
these involve partnerships with local authorities and others and some carry
funding and offer opportunities to enhance HERs (either through work carried
out in-house by HERs or from data available from the English NMR/NMRS).
Research
frameworks
A research
framework may identify weaknesses in knowledge of the resource for a particular
period or theme and suggest strategies for addressing the gap. They include
national and regional frameworks. Regional research frameworks aim to provide an assessment of land use,
settlement, environment, economy and society in a regional context and to
provide a framework for curation, decision-making and research. HER enhancement
might be planned in the light of a regional research framework or national
thematic framework
Useful
websites
English Heritage:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.8652
Regional Research frameworks – England:
East of England: http://www.eaareports.demon.co.uk/research_framework.htm
East Midlands http://www.le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/eastmidsfw/index.html
West
Midlands http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/research/fieldwork_research_themes/projects/wmrrfa/index.htm
National Research frameworks – Wales:
http://www.cpat.org.uk/research/index.htm
There are no current initiatives in Scotland.
National
Mapping Programme (NMP) England
This is a long-term programme to map the archaeological
resource known from aerial photography and to provide a more reliable framework
for classifying and dating sites.
Monuments
Protection Programme (MPP) England
This was a site-evaluation programme which added to the
schedule of nationally important sites and to revised, confirmed or (in some
cases) de-scheduled existing sites.
Burgh surveys Scotland
Historic Scotland commissions the Burgh surveys series. The main
objective of the Burgh surveys is to identify those areas, which are of
archaeological and historic interest and require sensitive treatment in the
event of proposed development. However the series is also of more general
interest in that it examines the geography and topography of each town, its
historic buildings and the origins of its street names.
Intensive and extensive
urban strategies
This
programme of intensive and extensive archaeological surveys aims to provide
up-to-date assessments of the surviving resource in urban areas and to improve
databases. The intensive urban surveys, covering major historic towns and
cities, are leading directly to the creation of Urban Archaeological Databases
(UADs). The information derived from
extensive surveys, covering the smaller historic towns of England (with similar surveys to also cover major conurbations) is held
within the local HER A growing number of the town assessment reports from
the extensive surveys are appearing on the ADS web site (see list at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/collections.cfm).
Historic
landscape characterisation (HLC) England
This
programme aims to inform landscape conservation strategies in the context of
planning and agricultural policies (see also E.5). One aim is to help landowners to commission historic landscape
surveys to inform 'whole farm management plans' under the Countryside
Stewardship (now Environmental Stewardship) and Environmentally Sensitive Area
(ESA) programmes of Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
HLC can also provide useful input to DEFRA’s Environmental Stewardship Entry Level
and Higher Level Schemes.
Historic Landscape Characterisation
Wales
Historic landscape characterisation in Wales has taken a different form
to that in England, but its aims are similar in informing landscape planning
agri-environment schemes such as Tir
Gofal. Information about the mechanics of the HLC and its
implementation can be seen on the Cadw web site at http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/
Historic Land Use Assessment (HLAMAP) Scotland
The Historic Land-use Assessment by the RCAHMS is an analysis of past
and present land-use. HLAMAP is a web-based presentation of this data that
allows the user to view the data by Historic Land-use Type, Period or Category
as well as by Relict Period, and to print out a report of any selected area. To
date almost 45 per cent of Scotland has been analysed. As with HLC in England
and Wales, HLAMAP can help to inform land management initiatives such as Rural
Stewardship (Scotland). http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/search.html (See also E.5.11)
The Scottish Wetland Archaeology Database
The Scottish Wetlands Archaeological
Database (SWAD) is an Historic Scotland (HS) commissioned project designed
primarily to produce a fuller understanding of the potential of Scottish
wetland archaeology. As it now stands there are over 6,000 records in the database.
The Scottish Palaeoenvironmental Archive
A national archive (funded by
Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage), to serve four main purposes:
·
To identify and protect from
destruction sites of key scientific interest and value.
·
Inform decision makers such as the
government, conservation bodies, scientists.
·
Enhance public awareness of
palaeoenvironmental sites in Scotland.
·
Help to direct research in Scotland.
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/~spsi/gistrans/spainfo.htm
D.5.2 Local authority partnerships
Most HERs have the opportunity to enhance their information
resources through partnerships with other departments within their local
authorities. There are three principal
forms of partnership which are of potential benefit. These are: collaborative
working with staff within corporate Information Technology sections; corporate
GIS systems and interdepartmental collaborative projects to develop multimedia
resources for public benefit. Another development in many authorities is the integration of archaeology, historic
buildings and natural environment records.
Partnerships with corporate IT sections
Many
local authorities or national bodies have specialist IT sections. Collaboration with the specialists
in these sections can help to ensure appropriate use of IT resources and input
to developing specific IT aspects of HERs. An example of a collaboration between
an HER and an IT section can be seen in Section D.6.2.
Corporate GIS
Many
departments within local government maintain GIS layers. These normally include archaeology, Rights
of Way, ecology and strategic planning and may also include minerals extraction
and flood risk areas. Often this means
that different spatial layers are available across a corporate network, some
intended for general use by the various departments (for example OS map
layers), some maintained for a specific purpose.
Multimedia
Many HERs have good links with other information providers
based in local libraries, museums, record offices and archives. All these contain information in their
catalogues and accession registers that provide useful sources for enhancing
HER databases. Perhaps more exciting to
potential users are the photographs, historic maps and documentary archives
that they hold.
In some areas, collaborative projects are creating
multi-disciplinary cultural-heritage resources drawing on materials from
different locations. This may involve
digitisation projects to scan and capture historic maps and documents, images
of sites and museums objects and associated database development about the
sites, catalogues and bibliographic material. For an example of such a project
see Section D.6.2. or 6.3.
Integration
In some
authorities, HERS, Historic Buildings Records and, sometimes, natural
environment records are being brought together. This means that a range of new information is accessible about:
·
Listed buildings and conservation officers' reports
·
Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS) for
geological and geomorphological sites
·
SSSIs (for example ancient woodland and grassland,
water meadows, peat-filled kettle holes, etc) also often have an historic
landscape implication
·
Information available from English Nature or Scottish
Natural Heritage
·
Sites managed by local wildlife trusts.
D.5.3 Local groups and societies
Many local
societies have programmes of research, some of which lead to the publication of
site gazetteers and the deposit of materials with local HERS. Local societies may also be provided with
copies of HER maps and print-outs which they update based on their
knowledge. As with the national
thematic recording programmes, an important consideration for HERs is the form
in which information will be deposited.
Where
possible, HER officers should aim to work with local societies to agree a
standard recording form that incorporates the HER's core standards and reflects
national data standards (in Scotland ASPIRE compliant). Ideally, guidance should be offered to
society members on how to complete the recording forms, possibly through
training days. HER officers should
allow time to check the quality of information while it is being collected. In
England and Scotland Local Societies have received grants to undertake
archaeological projects from the Local Heritage Initiative fund, but this
scheme has now come to an end. These grants have enabled local groups and HER
staff to work together on enhancement projects. For an example of this see
Section D.6.2.
Useful
Websites
Local Heritage Initiative England http://www.lhi.org.uk/
Local
Heritage Initiative Scotland http://www.snh.org.uk/wwo/communities/comm-grants.asp
University
research excavations and fieldwork continue to be an important source of
information about the historic environment.
HER managers are recommended to establish good contacts with any
universities that are active in their areas and, as with other fieldwork
programmes, to discuss arrangements for the deposit of information and
archive. HER managers may also wish to
work with their university contacts to identify possible research topics for
students interested in working in the local. area. Liaison with the ADS may be useful as a source of information
about university-based archaeology. An example of HER enhancement resulting
from partnership between a university and an HER can be seen in Section D.6.5.
D.5.5 National Thematic Recording Projects
A number of
thematic records have been or are being created at a national level by special
interest groups. Some of these involve
major programmes of fieldwork and trawls of documentary sources in response to
a perceived threat to an element of a resource that is under-represented in
HERs. Others have arisen in response to
the interests and enthusiasms of specialist societies. Many have the potential to attract funding
from the Heritage Lottery Fund because of their potential for involving members
of the public as volunteer fieldworkers and researchers.
Many of
these recording projects start with the collection of information from HERs and
the NMR but go on to include original fieldwork and research. Most are willing to share the information
that they compile with HERs, sometimes by providing digital data, record cards
or reports or alternatively by publishing their results in print or on the
internet. By complying with data
standards (including recording metadata), these recording projects are enabling
interoperability between different database systems mounted on the internet (see B.9 and D.4).
An important
consideration for HERs is how far they will be able to specify the format in
which any information is to be deposited with them. Ideally, thematic projects would collect data in accordance with
the data standards laid out in MIDAS and use the reference-data lists that make
up INSCRIPTION (ASPIRE in Scotland).
This general principle has already been achieved for a number of
projects (undertaken with collaboration from the NMR, CBA, the MDA and ADS)
which plan to offer digital data to (or have already made their data available
to) to HERS, for example:
·
the Defence of Britain Project: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/projects/dob
·
Portable Antiquities Scheme: http://www.finds.org.uk
The
Countryside Agency's Local Heritage Initiative
(LHI) is another example of a scheme that has the potential to result in new
sources of information to enhance the HER.
As the scope of LHI projects covers both the natural and the man-made
environment, HER managers may need to consider their collecting policies before
deciding which information to incorporate into their records. However, the LHI
will come to and end on 31st March 2007, when it will be subsumed
into the broader Heritage Lottery Fund programmes. Applications for projects
were still being accepted until the end of June 2006.
See http://www.lhi.org.uk
(England)
http://www.snh.org.uk/wwo/communities/comm-grants.asp
(Scotland)
Special-interest
groups
A well-known
feature of British life is the number of societies and special interest groups
that exist around the country. Many of
these have now begun to compile databases and to create records about sites of
special interest to them. Although many
of them have been working outside the main focus of interest of most HERs, some
of their activities are increasingly becoming recognised as important. Examples include:
·
the Survey of the Jewish Built Heritage http://www.jewish-heritage-uk.org
·
the Airfield Research Group http://www.airfield-research-group.co.uk
·
the Association for the Study and Preservation of
Roman Mosaics http://www.asprom.org
·
the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture http://www.crsbi.ac.uk
·
the National Inventory of War Memorials http://collections.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00g00c
·
the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association http://www.pmsa.org.uk
·
the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society http://www.tilesoc.org.uk
Details of
these and other projects can be found on the HEIRNET register. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirnet/index.cfm
An email
discussion list exists to promote discussion and colaboration between these
groups. HER managers can also use this
list to promote cooperation between HERs and recording projects. http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/helps
HERs may
benefit from using the research tools described below as a starting point to
find out more about the information that is available and to help to devise
enhancement projects:
·
the English NMR maintains a list of contacts working
with national thematic projects and in special interest groups
·
the BIAB provides a useful search tool
·
the ADS Catalogue provides an information gateway to
archives and data and is developing pointers to special-interest datasets
·
the CBA website is a useful starting point for
information (see also Council for Scottish Archaeology)
·
the Public Record Office can provide information about
the archival network.
Useful
websites:
Archaeology
Data Service (ADS) http://ads.ahds.ac.uk
Council for
British Archaeology http://britarch.ac.uk
Council for
Scottish Archaeology http://www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/
HEIRNET register http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirnet/index.cfm
HEIRPORT http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport/
Society of
Antiquaries Library catalogue http://sal.ads.ahds.ac.uk/
Heritage
Lottery Fund http://www.hlf.org.uk
National Monuments Record (England)
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland http://www.rcahms.gov.uk
Royal
Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales http://www.rcahmw.org.uk/
D.6
Case studies of HER enhancement projects
D.6.1
Creating an event record and GIS layer
Stuart Jeffrey, West of Scotland
Archaeology Service (WoSAS)
The recommended Event Monument Source (EMS) model for SMR management has
meant that those SMR databases that have been historically developed with these
three elements undifferentiated have required extensive restructuring. At WoSAS
this process was seen as an opportunity to develop a more sophisticated GIS
polygon layer representing archaeological events that could inform development
control directly as well as offering a further resource to be supplied as
baseline data to contracting units. The project to remove and restructure
existing event records from the SMR and to enter unrecorded events from the
existing paper archive as well as defining them in the GIS was carried out over
a period two years. However, this does not represent full time work by a single
individual, as the work was conducted as intermittent work by a number of WoSAS
staff and volunteers.
The resulting Events recording system has a database record and GIS
point for every known event in the record from the nineteenth century to the
present and range from forestry surveys to geophysical surveys to area
excavation. Each Event is directly related to the relevant Sources and
Monuments. “Live Events”, that is those
that have been started but not yet completed are also represented in the Events
database as well as WoSAS’s development control management (Consultation)
system. The definition of archaeological events in a polygon layer in the GIS
was complicated by various ambiguities and variations in precision in the
available spatial descriptions, which ranged from poor textual references to
highly accurate digital data derived from GPS survey. A series of metadata
fields were incorporated into the Event polygon layer in order to inform users
of the accuracy of the source data. This allows Events defined accurately to,
for example trench level, to share a layer with Events such as poorly defined
unsystematic reconnaissance surveys. These fields are Feature, Source,
Confidence and Results, their contents are constrained by a list of specific
values. An example of polygon attributes in the GIS might be:
Event ID 1076
Compiler MO’H The
initials of the staff member who created the polygon
Map_scale 2500
The scale of the base map
used in digitising if appropriate .
Dig_scale 1500 The
scale at which the map was displayed for digitising.
Entry date 13/05/2004 The date the
polygon was created.
Name Archaeological Field Evaluation and Watching Brief at Tollpark,
Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire*
Director Duffy, P*
Organisation GUARD*
Year 1998*
Context_comment - Work
carried out during construction of a car park to the north of a factory (and trenching
at camp), to check if there are any archaeological remains. Condition attached
to the planning consent.
Results_comment - No
archaeological remains were found.
Sub_Event Trench 1 The designation of this polygon where the event is represented by more
than one polygon
Source Code (1) Digital data from contractor (EDM survey)
Feature Code (5) Trench extent – Trial Trench
Confidence Code (6) Accurate to within 1m
Results Code (8) Entirely negative
All elements are derived from the GIS Layer attribute table except those
marked with an asterisk, which are derived from the SMR database Event Record
via an ODBC link. Although the vast
majority of polygons represent site/survey extents, where good data is
available down to trench level, as in the above example, it can be incorporated
into the GIS layer. This most often happens when survey data is supplied
digitally by the contracting unit or when it can be digitised satisfactorily
from a paper report.
Figure 28:
WoSAS Events 1: An example of an archaeological evaluation specified to trench
level in the area surrounding Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow, derived from
contractor supplied data [© WoSAS 2007 and © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. 100023379.
2007]
Currently the WoSAS Event record comprises c.1500 archaeological events,
represented in the GIS by c.1500 points (one centred on each event) and c.1000
polygons. The next phase in enhancing the Events record is to develop XML
download scripts working directly with OASIS as it is implemented in Scotland.
This should allow the population of the SMR record directly from the
contractor’s on-line record (after validation) as well as the up-loading of
contractor supplied geo-referenced survey data. Work is also under way in partnership
with the RCAHMS to specify geospatial data standards in Scotland, including an
examination of the applicability of existing standards. It is also hoped to generate and incorporate new event polygons derived
from information contained in past journals under the auspices of a museum led
project to develop a Local History and Archaeology Strategy for the Clyde
Valley.
This enhancement to the system has proved enormously valuable, both as
an improvement to WoSAS’s own suite of business tools and as a more usable
source of events information for contractors working in the WoSAS area. This is
often crucial in making archaeological decisions on the ground and overcomes
the occasional lack of communication between commercial archaeological
contractors regarding their most recent work (commercial sensitivities are
always respected). An additional benefit of having carried out this process is
that it has encouraged archaeological contractors to deposit digital geospatial
data directly with WoSAS in the knowledge that it will be rapidly incorporated
into the SMR datasets.
Figure 29: WoSAS
Events 2: The event record for the heart of medieval Glasgow showing numerous
events as points and polygons. [© WoSAS 2007 and © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. 100023379.
2007]
D.6.2
Providing historic mapping for the HER : the Worcestershire Tithe Map Project
Neil
Lockett, Worcestershire Historic Environment Record-
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries much of the English
landscape was undergoing significant change. The surveys of the Tithe
Commissioners have helped to document this process through the detailed maps of
land-holdings and their associated lists which provide details of each land
parcel: its owners, tenants, and how it was used. These maps offer a
fascinating insight into the agricultural landscape of the day, and clues,
through place-names, to earlier settlement patterns.
The Worcestershire Tithe Map Project has been investigating
original tithe maps, held by the County Record Office, for the past twelve
years. This investigation, undertaken by volunteers, has produced tracings of
the original maps to a uniform scale of 1:10,000 so that they can be overlain
onto modern Ordnance Survey paper maps. Place-name evidence, derived from the
accompanying documentation has also been added.
This early stage of the project emphasised the value of tithe maps in
any study of historic landscape and demonstrated a demand for easy access to
this information from individuals, local groups and heritage professionals. In
response to this, in 2002 it was decided to digitise the data held within the
maps and associated apportionment books.
Figure 30: Elmley Castle Tithe Map displaying apportionment details for
land use [© Worcestershire County
Council 2007 and © Crown Copyright. All
rights reserved. 100015914.
2007]
Since 2002, the project has used a Geographic Information System (GIS)
to trace the maps as digital cartographic documents, which can be used in a
more sophisticated manner than the paper tracings. Each parish tithe map is
traced as a single, multi-layered document, so that field-parcels, buildings,
roads, and other features can be easily isolated and displayed at will (Figure
30). The resultant digital coverage can be used alongside other tithe maps,
estate maps, or modern and historic Ordnance Survey maps. Other digital
information, such as Public Rights of Way or Historic Environment information
can be displayed and analysed in conjunction with the tithe maps.
As well as
tracing the maps, details of the contemporary Schedule of Apportionment listing: ownership, tenancy, rentable
value, land-use and placename has been compiled onto a database. The
combination of the digital maps and this database enables the data to be displayed
in a variety of ways allowing researchers to readily visualise early nineteenth
century land-use, ownership and tenancy patterns. In addition, individual
parish maps can be combined to view larger historic settlement patterns and,
when the project is completed it will be possible to search for, amongst other
data fields, placenames or personal names across the whole county.
The project has been funded by Worcestershire County Council, and by
Local Archaeological and Historical Societies who received grants from the
Local Heritage Initiative scheme. The current coverage for transcribed tithe
maps stands at 138 parishes, held as 1:10,000 copies suitable for overlay onto
paper Ordnance Survey maps. Of these transcriptions, 42 have been converted to
digital coverages. In addition fourteen late eighteenth century Enclosure maps
are available, together with five maps documenting two estates in
Worcestershire. The project intends to complete all available tithe maps for
Worcestershire as digital coverages, and hopes to extend the enclosure and
estate map coverages in the near future. All of the completed maps can be
consulted at the HER and will be published to the web site (http://www.worcestershiremaps.org.uk/) in order to promote research, at all
levels, into Worcestershire’s past and aid understanding of how the landscape
has changed over the past 160 to 170 years.
Figure 31: 3D
historic reconstruction of Elmley Castle using the digital tithe map [© Worcestershire
County Council 2007]
D.6.3 Creating a deposit model for the
Palaeolithic in Worcestershire
Neil Lockett, Worcestershire
Historic Environment Record and The Shotton Project, University of Birmingham
Nationally the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic periods have had a high
profile over the last decade. In the Midlands, however, there has been a
general lack of research and a shortage of finds.
The Shotton Project, www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/shottonproject developed by
the University of Birmingham and funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability
Fund, was an attempt to address this lack of research. From the outset it was
clear that the results of the Project, both new data and assessments of archive
material, would be of more use to archaeological curators and researchers if
they were integrated into the relevant HERs. At the time, no such integrated
record existed for Quaternary and Palaeolithic material in Britain.
Worcestershire HER saw the benefit of this process and its staff were
involved in a pilot project to test the integration of Shotton Project data
into an HER. This pilot project involved creating a deposit model for the Lower
Palaeolithic
Two main datasets were used:
·
Digital geological mapping from the British Geological
Survey (BGS) mapped at a base scale of 1:50,000 (DigMap50). This was used to
provide a base from which Palaeolithic deposits could be derived.
·
Search results from the HER for all sites or find spots
of a Palaeolithic date (500,000 to 10,001 BC).
Using the BGS data
The ten ‘tiles’ of vector data, corresponding to the original BGS
1:50,000 paper map sheets were merged into a single vector layer. This data was
then reprocessed to focus on the features relevant to the Palaeolithic. The
completed theme contained all terraces of the Severn and Midland Avon as
individual features.
At the same time a literature study provided background information to
the current geological interpretation of the Midlands. This study covered two
main sources:
·
the BGS Sheet Memoirs – books written to accompany the
drift geological sheets providing interpretative discussions on the
geology.
·
geological correlations for the Quaternary recently
published by the Geological Society. This provided information on the
correlations, formations and terrace sequences for the County. From these
sources it was possible to add additional attributes to Palaeolithic deposits
to enabled querying and display of the theme based on the following fields:
·
Lexicon Name
·
Formation Name
·
Member Name
·
Terrace
·
Date Range (Figure 32)
·
Minimum Date
·
Maximum Date
·
Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage
·
Period
Figure 32: Date ranges of Worcestershire's Quaternary
geology [reproduced from the British
Geological Survey Map data at the original scale of 1:50,000 © Crown Copyright.
All rights reserved. 100015914. 2007. BGS Digital License 2001/125. 2007]
To clarify
the importance of the Quaternary aspects of the record, type sites were
included (Figure 33). These type sites provide important information on date
ranges and evidence of vertebrates and invertebrates through organic
deposits. Only one of the type sites
used here had archaeological material within associated contexts. This
demonstrates the importance of using non-heritage data sets to make a more
complete Palaeolithic and Quaternary HER.
Adding the HER data
Once the background geology had been established, it was possible to add
in the information held in the HER. Information from the enhanced drift geology
coverage was linked to the HER data using a spatial join. This provided refined
date ranges for many sites contained within the HER and also gave the specific
terrace deposit and formation information which could be used to enhance the
core HER data (Figure 34).
The result
The creation of county-wide coverage, containing period and date-range
information forms the basis of a Palaeolithic interpretative model which can be
incorporated into future research and management programmes. The layer will
form the basis of a testable model for the survival of deposits of this period
within the county.
Figure 33: Type sites selected
for the Worcestershire Palaeolithic HER [reproduced from the British Geological
Survey Map data at the original scale of 1:50,000 © Crown Copyright. All rights
reserved. 100015914. 2007. BGS Digital License 2001/125. 2007]
The GIS work involved in the creation of the predictive model took four
days work. This partnership project has proved, therefore, a cost-effective way
of producing such models for inclusion within the HER. The project has
highlighted that the successful completion of this type of enhancement project
requires a detailed understanding of data sources, both strength and
weaknesses, but most importantly a multidisciplinary team.
Figure 34: HER data overlain on terrace
deposits displayed by period [reproduced from the British Geological
Survey Map data at the original scale of 1:50,000 © Crown Copyright. All rights
reserved. 100015914. 2007. BGS Digital License 2001/125. 2007]
D.6.4
Prehistoric funerary and ritual sites
Jeff Spencer, Clwyd-Powys
Archaeological Trust
Introduction
In 1997 the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) started a
Prehistoric Funerary and Ritual Sites project, a comprehensive study of
Neolithic and Bronze Age sepulchro-ritual monuments in east and north east
Wales. The initial stage of the survey in the Upper Severn Valley, Powys,
served as a pilot for what has evolved into a pan-Wales project involving all
four Welsh Archaeological Trusts.
The work has been funded by grant aid from Cadw, as part of a national
assessment and survey project, and is one of a number of similar themed or period specific projects run by Cadw over the past
10 years. Such projects are designed to audit, assess and report on the
condition of a particular aspect of the archaeological resource and to identify
management issues and suggest solutions to resolve these. As well as
specifically producing management prescriptions and recommending sites for
scheduling, one of the key ways in which improved management is delivered is
through the systematic enhancement of the HER - thereby improving its various
heritage management functions including development control, advice to
agri-environment schemes and forestry proposals.
Since 1997 CPAT have studied 7 geographical areas in a series of annual
projects, details of which can be found at
www.cpat.org.uk\projects\longer\pfr\pfr.htm. By its expected end in March 2006 the
project will have run across Wales.
Completion would have been achieved sooner but for the serious
disruption caused by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2000/01.
Methodology
The HER was interrogated to extract a digital project database of all
sites which potentially fell into the category of Neolithic or Bronze Age
funerary and ritual sites. It included sites where the most likely
interpretation was not necessarily either prehistoric, or funerary or ritual,
but where other, less likely interpretations fell within the scope of the
study. For example, cairns which were likely to be clearance cairns, but which
may alternatively be burial cairns.
The initial extract of sites was reassessed, taking into account the HER
description and any readily available written sources. As a result some sites
were excluded from the study on the grounds that they were not considered to be
prehistoric in date, belonged to a category of monument other than funerary or
ritual, or because they were duplicate records. Records generated from
placenames and fieldnames (such as maen, carreg, carnedd, domen and gorsedd
which in Welsh may denote the site of a burial mound, standing stone or stone
circle, for example) were checked and,
where site visits over the years had failed to produce evidence of an
archaeological site, were also excluded.
Rapid visits were made to as many sites on the project database as
possible, records completed, and their form and condition of the monument
assessed, and the project database enhanced. A photographic record was also
made and linked to the database.
Figure 35: Maes Mochnant Standing Stone, Powys. Photograph no. cs97066005 © CPAT 2007
Results
·
Existing HER entries for all sites in the initial
project database were enhanced by improving the detail and accuracy of records,
or by adding new information.
·
Previously unknown sites were discovered, recorded and
subsequently added to the HER.
·
Significant groupings of previously recorded sites
were recognised, for example round barrow cemeteries and prehistoric monument
complexes.
·
A consolidated list of site types and site type
definitions for prehistoric funerary and ritual monuments was developed, and
the list of revised site types applied to the database entries.
·
A wide range and large number of sites were
recommended for scheduling. Cadw has subsequently granted this status to many
of them.
·
Specific management data was prepared to support the
heritage management functions of the HER.
·
A range of publications detailing the work for a
variety of audiences have been prepared, including a volume in Cadw’s
Caring for . . . series of
heritage management advice booklets.
D.6.5 The Shorewatch (SCAPE) Project
Tom Dawson, University of St Andrews
With one of the longest coastlines
in Europe, Scotland has a great number of archaeological sites in distant and
exposed locations. The remoteness of much of the coast means that there are
large tracts that have not yet been systematically surveyed by archaeologists.
Additionally, in many areas the coast is changing rapidly due to sea and wind
erosion, leading to previously unrecorded archaeological sites being revealed
on a regular basis.
In order to gather information on
this vulnerable heritage resource, Historic Scotland has commissioned coastal
surveys at a number of locations, and approximately twenty five percent of the
coast has now been explored. Professional units have undertaken the work and
all new surveys since 2000 have been managed by SCAPE (Scottish Coastal
Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion), a charitable organisation concerned
with promoting work on Scotland’s coastal heritage.
SCAPE is also co-ordinating shorewatch,
a project aimed at encouraging members of local communities to locate, record
and monitor sites on the coast. Groups have been established around Scotland,
including on many of the far-flung islands. The groups have received training
in how to identify and describe sites and are provided with a resource pack
that explains how to work on the project. Many groups have also been provided
with basic equipment, including hand-held GPS receivers to help with recording
site locations.
Shorewatch participants use pro
forma sheets to record details about sites, designed in consultation with
staff from the National Monuments Record of Scotland and local SMRs, and
conforming to guidelines laid out in the MIDAS manual (Lee 1998). The forms are
used to record details about new sites and provide a basis for future
monitoring. The completed forms are sent to the Shorewatch co-ordinator for
initial checking, which includes entering the details into a database linked to
GIS to verify grid references. The forms prompt the group members to record all
essential details, and as part of their initial training, group members are
asked to record a monument on a blank piece of paper. They are subsequently
given a form to record the same monument and then compare the results, allowing
them to see how much more information is usually noted down when following the
prompts.
The Shorewatch project has been
adopted by pre-existing local heritage, history and archaeology societies, and
new groups have also been set up specifically to work on the project.
Additionally, the SCAPE managed coastal surveys have included a necessity for
the professional units involved to provide training to Shorewatch groups. In
areas where no groups previously existed, the units, together with the
Shorewatch co-ordinator, have either contacted existing heritage organisations
or have written articles in local papers and held meetings in halls in order to
set up new groups from scratch.
As well as recording sites located
in remote places, the use of local groups has proved extremely useful for
reporting remains found eroding after a storm or similar event. Some Shorewatch
groups are also well-placed to investigate the intertidal zone, being able to
visit during low spring tides. Health and Safety is an obvious concern and risk
assessment forms and a section of the resource pack help to make participants
aware of potential dangers.
In many cases, Shorewatch group
members had been monitoring sites over a number of years prior to participation
in the project, but had been unaware of how to report their findings.
Involvement in the project has helped the groups to understand the workings of
local and national records and has provided a mechanism for reporting their
findings.
The number of records returned by
groups range from occasional notes about a handful of sites to the results of
intensive surveys. An example of the latter is the two seasons of work
completed by volunteers from the North of Scotland Archaeology Society (NoSAS).
They have been surveying the very remote Loch Hourn, walking its shore and
immediate hinterland. They have located over four hundred sites that were
previously unrecorded in local or national records, and have changed our
understanding of human interaction at the loch. Many of the sites relate to the
herring fishing industry and include quays, terraces and the footings of
buildings. After completion of each season of survey work, group members have
compiled a comprehensive report, with summaries for Discovery and Excavation in
Scotland. They have also added details of the sites to the Highland Council
SMR, after verification of the records by an SMR officer.
Figure 36:
NoSAS members surveying at Loch Hourn [© University of St Andrews 2007]
Many
groups have developed a sense of responsibility for sites in their locality,
and have adopted some of these for further study. Such work can include making
detailed plans and arranging regular monitoring visits. A few groups have
started more intensive work at sites that are threatened with imminent destruction.
In collaboration with SCAPE and the local authority Archaeologists, they have
begun recording projects aimed at rescuing information that would otherwise be
lost. At Brora, Sutherland, the Clyne Heritage Society has been investigating
the substantial masonry remains of sixteenth century saltpans eroding on the
beach and from dunes. Members of the Society have monitored the great damage
that storm tides have done to the walls and are uncovering masonry hidden below
drifted sand, drawing plans and making a photographic record of the buildings.
Figure 37: Clyne Heritage Society
members working at an eroding structure on the
beach at Brora, Sutherland [© University of St Andrews 2007]
The Unst Heritage Society, based in
Shetland on Britain’s most northerly inhabited island, has been working with
professional archaeologists to record an eroding prehistoric dwelling. They had
been monitoring the destruction of the structure over a number of years and
have recently completed a geophysical and topographic survey of the site,
together with limited excavation of the eroding face. The professional
archaeologists have provided formal training for the group and have helped them
with the recording. Society members have arranged a display in the local
heritage centre about their recent work, using this as a means of informing the
entire island community of their activities and further stimulating local
interest in heritage recording.
Figure 38: Unst Heritage Society surveying an eroding prehistoric mound
in Shetland [© University of St Andrews 2007]