Introduction
We were invited to evaluate the geoarchaeology of a site at Wat's Dyke, Chirk, to help the excavating archaeologists, both in understanding the origins of the deposits and in assessing the archaeological potential of the site.
Background
The bedrock of the area was known to be carboniferous red and grey mudstone with sandstone and thin coal beds, we found the soils to be typical stagnogleys which have developed in reddish till and are waterlogged during the wetter months. The site lies on the edge of woodland at the top of a steep, north west facing slope.
The site was examined from two monolith samples taken from two soil profiles by the excavating archaeologists.
Findings
The mineralogy of the two samples suggests that the profiles have come from material with several origins, and has been subject to a number of processes since soil formation had begun. In one of the samples the evidence suggests that bank material lies over a natural soil profile, and soil may have been stripped before the bank was built.
Conclusions
From our investigations, we were able to tell the excavating archaeologists that these profiles have provided a rather aggressive environment for the preservation of archaeological, geoarchaeological and other environmental evidence. The destruction of boundaries due to post-depositional process has made features hard to see, and it is felt that any further work carried out on these samples is unlikely to provide further information.
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