The East Riding of Yorkshire - assessment of archaeological resource in aggregate areas (4828) ALSF funded project mapped six sample areas in the East Riding of Yorkshire to assess the archaeological resource of the Holderness area.
The air photo element of this project was undertaken for Humber Field Archaeology by Alison Deegan. The mapping covers six locations, all within the Holderness area of the East Riding of Yorkshire. These areas were surveyed to English Heritage’s National Mapping Programme standards using existing air photographs. New National Monument Record entries were created for 213 monuments or monument groups and a further 21 existing monument records were amended or enhanced.
The project
The East Riding Aggregates Assessment project (ERAA) is an element of the Desk-Based Resource Assessment and Research and Management Framework of Aggregate-Producing Landscapes in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The ERAA is operated by Humber Field Archaeology (HFA) funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF). The air photo mapping element was carried out to EH’s standard National Mapping Programme (NMP) specification by Alison Deegan and Daniel van den Toorn. This team was based with EH’s Aerial Survey and Investigation team at Tanner Row, York. The air photo mapping project Holderness pilot areas together cover 94km2 and range in size from 9km2 to 20km2. The mapping began in August 2007 and was completed in February 2008.
The archaeology
As is frequently the case, air photo mapping in these six small pilot areas have revealed landscapes of surprising time depth and complexity ranging from the Bronze Age through to 20th century military sites. Prehistoric monuments are represented by a small number of round barrows surviving, with one exception, primarily as ring ditches and seen as cropmarks. A few other site types may also be pre-Iron Age in date but the morphological evidence is inconclusive. There is at least one small group of Iron Age square barrows near Burton Agnes, perhaps a reflection of this location’s proximity to the Yorkshire Wolds where Iron Age cemeteries are a particular feature.
Enclosures of possible Iron Age or Roman date are more prolific and are recorded singly or in small groups at 39 locations within the pilot areas. Most of the enclosures are of seemingly simple rectilinear plan, occasionally with internal sub-divisions. Many of the enclosures appear in apparent isolation and quite often in areas that were still under upstanding ridge and furrow in the middle of the 20th century. No doubt this is due in large part to the underlying soils and geology as small islands and ribbons of freer draining deposits such as sand and gravel on which these enclosures sit are interspersed with expanses of alluvial clays and silts which are less likely to produce crop marks.
The images used on this page are copyright English Heritage unless specified otherwise. For further details of any photographs or other images and for copies of these, or the plans and reports related to the project please contact the English Heritage Archive.
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