Operating mode

A GPR system was requested from GEF to collect data during two fieldwork seasons of an on-going NERC PhD project. A total of 310 GPR B-scans were collected and an area of 755.4m was mapped at five challenging and contrasting archaeological study sites in Scotland. A GPS Leica System 1200 was also required during the second field season to accurately locate the survey grids, to correct some GPR data and to assist to other instruments. The GPR survey produced good results and succeeded in locating the known archaeological targets. 1. Background The NERC PhD project, which was object of the GEF loan, is using a new approach which combines both geophysics and geochemistry to understand the soil properties that influence the results of geophysical techniques at five challenging and contrasting archaeological sites in Scotland (Figure 1). These sites are characterised either by difficult superficial deposits (e.g. wind blown sand in Orkney) or sites with low magnetic contrast (e.g. Forteviot). Figure 1. Map of Scotland showing the location of the five case study sites, survey areas and general description of the land use, hard & drift geology. The objectives of this investigation are: a. To assess the capabilities of five geophysical techniques (Earth resistance, gradiometry, GPR and conductivity survey) commonly used in archaeological prospection. b. To experiment with sequential/repetitive geophysical surveys & soil sampling to evaluate the effects of the topsoil and weather conditions on the geophysical data