Introduction
We were invited to evaluate the geoarchaeology of a site at Windsor Castle Public House, Bath, 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 Jurassic Lower Lias clays overlain by Devensian calcareous and flinty gravels, we found the soils to be similar to gleyed brown warp soils, which have a fine loamy to clayey texture and develop on river alluvium. The site lies in a flat valley bottom within the floodplain of the river Avon, and at present the site is within an urban area of Bath partly occupied by buildings.
A single monolith sample collected by the excavating archaeologists was used for analysis.
Findings
The deposits when examined were found to be a mixture of deposits of debris from human activity, and redeposited natural deposits containing archaeological material. The presence of pores shows that roots had penetrated down through the sample and an organic topsoil was almost certainly present and has since been removed.
Conclusions
From our investigations, we were able to tell the excavating archaeologists that soil micromorphological analysis might provide further information, as might microfossil analysis, but the amount of reworking due to post-depositional processes might seriously affect the results.