<< News >> New sewage works has Bronze Age past
Submitted by PaulM on Friday, 16 April 2004 Page Views: 2679
Neolithic and Bronze AgeArchaeologists have reached the next crucial stage in uncovering the historic past of East Sussex's ancestors. They will begin digging a series of shallow excavations on land at Lower Hoddern Farm in Peacehaven in a bid to find evidence of previous human occupation in the valley, which could include artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age.Field archaeologists from Archaeology South East will also be targeting the bed of the dry valley with a single larger excavation, measuring up to 100 metres in length and up to two metres in depth.
They are hoping the study of any environmental remains found in a series of natural deposits, could reveal how the adjacent landscape was used thousands of years ago by our ancestors. Because of the effect of thousands of years of ploughing and erosion, artefacts such as flint tools and pottery are likely to have travelled to the bottom of the valley, where they remain trapped within a timecapsule of soil.
The trench work follows earlier surveys using technology called magnetrometry, which can help reveal the extent of any buried archaeological features. The scanning equipment provides a magnetic reading from below ground, which can then help identify possible archaeological features, such as ditches, pits and postholes.
Diggers will move on the site from this week (April 12) to begin stripping away the topsoil, an operation which will be closely monitored by the archaeologists, before they move in with spades and trowels to expose any possible finds.
The investigations are part of extensive Southern Water survey work taking place in preparation for a planning application for a new £200 million wastewater treatment works at Lower Hoddern Farm, Peacehaven.
Damon Elliott, Major Projects Manager for Southern Water, said: "This type of survey work is crucial in order that, for future generations, we can obtain and record a clear and accurate archaeological picture of the site, prior to submission of a planning application in Autumn 2004."
The company chose the site at Peacehaven after reviewing 66 locations across Brighton and Hove, East and West Sussex and carrying out extensive public consultation on a shortlist of eight sites. This followed the planning rejection of Southern Water's plans to expand its existing treatment works at Portobello, near Telscombe Cliffs.
The scheme is necessary because Brighton and Hove is the only Sussex resort unable to meet the latest European environmental standards on wastewater treatment. The company has already built new and improved works along the Sussex coast to serve Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Newhaven, Shoreham, Worthing and Littlehampton and Bognor to meet the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.
Further information: Rebecca Burgess 01903 272624 www.southernwater.co.uk
Source: Water UK
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