Trial trenching

Trial Trenching

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Trial trenching

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Trial trenching'

Start a new discussion about 'Trial trenching'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Trial trenching is a rapid and inexpensive method of archaeological evaluation used to estimate the archaeological potential of a site.

Trenches are located at intervals across a site leaving the rest untouched. A mechanical excavator is used to dig down to archaeological features or natural geological deposits and any archaeology is recorded. No further excavation takes place at this stage. The results of the trial trenching are used to inform any future stage of work which may extend to full excavation

Excavation

The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning.# Excavation is the best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology....
of the rest of the site if the evaluation reveals significant finds.

There is some argument over the sampling strategy to be employed in trial trenching, especially in evaluating sites that are intended for development. Issues such as the effectiveness of certain trench layouts or the percentage of the site to be dug (normally around 5% at present) are widely discussed. Whether an effective picture of past human activity on a site can be truly estimated through this methods is widely debated. Development can destroy buried archaeology forever and a reliable evaluation methodology is very important. Whilst it is difficult to quantify the number of false negative

Type I and type II errors

In statistics, the terms Type I error and type II error are used to describe possible errors made in a statistical decision process. In 1928, Jerzy Neyman and Egon Pearson , both eminent statisticians, discussed the problems associated with "deciding whether or not a particular sample may be judged as likely to have been randomly dr...
results there have certainly been examples of evaluations suggesting a relatively limited amount of past activity which has had to be upwardly revised during the excavation.

In the UK the results of the trial trenching will be used to inform the decision on the need for any further archaeological work to be undertaken prior to development. This process is enshrined in PPG 16

PPG 16

Planning Policy Guidance 16: Archaeology and Planning commonly abbreviated as PPG 16, is a document produced by the Her Majesty's Government to advise local planning authorities on the treatment of archaeology within the planning process....
and English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England....
's Management of Archaeological Projects colloquially known as MAP 2.

Trial trenching

See also