Thetford Forest Archaeology - fieldwalking  

The chief method of investigation used during this project is surface collection survey, better known in the U.K as fieldwalking. This should not be confused with the practice of collecting artefacts for private display.

Field-walking, is an archaeological method of sampling artefacts laying on the surfaces of exposed and disturbed soils. It is a method used to detect new sites and past land-uses across a landscape. Practised by professional archaeologists, it is also a favourite method of amateur and voluntary archaeologists.

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This page last updated

2006-01-31
(y-m-d)

Paul Brooker
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Surface collection survey - a method

Whereas excavation produces high quality information from a small area, surface-collection produces more quantitative evidence over a larger area such as a landscape (especially when combined with other field methods such as excavation, earthwork survey, aerial photography, geophysical survey, cartography, documentary research, vernacular survey and metal detection survey). The intensity of a survey depends on what kind of research is being carried out.

The most frequent aim of a survey is to find and record archaeological sites. Clusters of finds - such as sherds of broken pottery, on the surface of disturbed and exposed soils (e.g. the plough soil of arable fields), often indicate the presence of archaeological sites in the subsoil. In some cases, these clusters are the only surviving evidence of past settlement and activities. Fieldwalkers search cultivated fields in search of this evidence, and submit new entries to the public record each year, adding to our knowledge of past times.

Not all fieldwalk surveys are carried out merely to find new sites. Intense surveys can provide more indepth knowledge of already recorded sites, or can be used to evaluate the past uses of a landscape. Which method is employed depends on the aims of each survey, the level of disturbed soil exposure, and the number of people involved in the exercise.

However, field-walking can only be of archaeological value if it is carried out properly.

Roman ceramics
  • Permission of the landowner should always be obtained.
  • A clear set of aims and methodology should be drafted - including a justification for removing artefacts from their topsoil context.
  • All finds should be properly recorded with find spots onto a secure public record (here in England & Wales, the finds and survey results should be recorded on to the sites & monuments record, usually kept by local government archaeologists). Finds from England & Wales can also be recorded to the Portable Antiquities Scheme - details of PAS Finds Liason Officers can be found on the PAS website. Recorded findspots in the UK should use the Ordnance Survey NGR (National Grid Reference) system to plot their location
  • Whenever possible, survey results should be published so that the new information is disseminated across a wide audience. Many local archaeological societies publish journals and newsletters. Amateurs can also consider e-publishing of reports, such as I have done here with this website.
  • Ideally, finds should also be placed in a public depository after the project has been completed (although I would advocate the temporary lending of some finds to local schools, etc).

There are several different methods of field-walking:

  1. Grid-walking. This usually involves a group of surveyors searching 100% of a fields surface. The field is divided into squares, or grids, carefully measured out. Finds are compared between different grid squares. This is the most thorough form, and is often carried out by large numbers of people such as local archaeological societies.
  2. Linear-walking. This involves searching a smaller percentage of a field. Transects, or lines are measured and mapped out. A surveyor walks along these lines that are spaced out at regular intervals. Finds are compared between transects. The transects can be divided into shorter lengths called stints. This is the method of the Thetford Forest Survey.
  3. Reconnaisance-walking. Simply walking over areas of disturbed soils (e.g. ploughed fields) without any method. Reconnaissance is best restricted to the initial surveying of an area.

Responsibility

If you want to take up fieldwalking, then I would urge that you consider the responsibility of removing finds. There are clearly cases, development, rescue archaeology, heavily cultivated fields, land drainage, etc, where finds are being destroyed by modern activities, and in those cases, removal of artifacts is easier to justify. However, I would urge that you always consider the responsibility of removing finds even from the surface. What is your justification? What do you hope to learn? How will you record the removal for the future - will that record be secure? Removal without considering and weighing out those decisions is not archaeology - it is egg-collecting.