Northamptonshire Archaeology offers a full range of non-intrusive fieldwork survey techniques in addition to geophysical survey. Topographical Survey, Reconnaissance and Land Use Assessment Present land use and the general topography of a site can provide information on the former use of an area which is likely to have implications for further stages of archaeological investigation.
Fieldwalking The systematic walking of ploughed fields is carried out to recover objects, principally pottery, brought to the surface by ploughing. Concentrations of pottery can mark the location of buried sites and thereby help to determine requirements for further investigation such as geophysical survey or trial trenching. Earthworks Survey Earthworks (humps and bumps) mark the buried remains of former houses, banks, ditches and other features that have not been flattened by centuries of ploughing. Members of staff have been trained in earthwork survey by Christopher Taylor, formerly with the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). Both traditional and modern data logged theodolite earthwork surveys can be undetaken. These are provided as hachured plans on a modern Ordnance Survey base map, and for all total station surveys contour lines or earthwork profiles can also be plotted. Metal Detector Survey Systematic metal detector surveys are carried out both by our own staff and in co-operation with known local metal detectorists. As with field walking, concentrations of finds can denote areas of particular interest that may require further information.