Multidisciplinary approaches to the geoarchaeological evaluation of deeplystratified sedimentary sequences: Examples from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in southern England, United Kingdom

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