Multi-disciplinary approaches to the geoarchaeological evaluation of deeply stratified sedimentary sequences: examples from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in Southern England, United Kingdom.

Archaeological evaluation of deeply stratified sedimentary sequences from lowland river valleys can be problematic because of the often excessive depth of the deposits, the associated high level of the water table and ground instability. In such situations conventional archaeological survey techniques are inappropriate and alternative methodologies are required. One suitable approach is to model subsurface stratigraphy, in an attempt to determine potential locations for buried archaeology, using an integrated borehole and geophysical program of ground investigation. Information of this type is often available int he form of geotechnical data that can be usefully augmented by geoarchaeological targeting of selected areas of the site for further information. In this paper we show how such techniques can be used to model buried gravel surfaces, peats within alluvial stacks and buried former clifflines in Holocene and pleistocene sediments from southern England.