Developing a methodology for archaeological prospection on alluvial floodplains with a case study involving the Winckley Lowes barrow sequence, Lancashire.

Abstract

This paper seeks to develop a balanced methodology for non-intrusive archaeological prospection on dynamic alluvial floodplains. A combination of LiDAR, gradiometry, field-walking and topographic surveying are employed on floodplains on the confluence of the Rivers Ribble, Hodder and Calder near Clitheroe, Lancashire. This was chosen as a case study due to the presence of three putative burial mounds and one confirmed mound of anthromorphic origin. The results of this investigation provide evidence of the development of river terracing, human occupation from the Mesolithic period onwards and offers interpretation of how the surrounding landscape influenced the shape of the mounds.
A substantial lithic assemblage dating to the Mesolithic through to the Bronze Age period suggests that there were terraces of which the overlaying alluvial deposits were not at such a depth that would mask features identifiable during a gradiometer survey, indeed, the successive survey revealed evidence of human occupation. LiDAR data provided further evidence of sequential river terrace development and conclusions were therefore drawn suggesting that both mounds at Winckley Lowes were likely to be constructed at different time periods.