Nene Valley: Archaeological and Environmental Synthesis
Northamptonshire Archaeology, University of Exeter, 2009. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000170. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Northamptonshire Archaeology unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Andy
Chapman
Editor, Secretary and Treasurer
Northamptonshire Archaeology
2 Bolton House
Wootton Hall Park
Northampton
NN4 8BE
UK
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 916
- ALSF Project Number: 3453
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000170
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
The River Nene is one of the longer rivers of England, flowing from a large rural catchment on the western border of Northamptonshire eastwards through the East Anglian fens to the sea near Wisbech. As a geographical entity it reflects a slice of typical riparian activity in the Midlands of England through the archaeological and environmental record contained within the valley. The river does not cross any geomorphologically extreme areas and for most of its length the river has only a very slight gradient. The present study does not extend beyond the Town Bridge in Peterborough as that point is effectively where the 'Midland' river changes morphologically into a much altered 'Fenland' river and also a point at which it is believed brackish conditions prevailed in the archaeological past.
The Nene Valley has been subjected to extensive mineral extraction over the years, with several large excavations that have produced large bodies of environmental data; these include the Raunds Area Project, the excavations at Irchester and Ditchford and the work in Wollaston. These coupled with the many excavations carried out from the 1950's onwards and the complete mapping of the crop mark data makes the archaeological data for the Nene Valley very complete.
The Nene Valley Project has collated archaeological, hydological and palaeoenvironmental data from published and archive sources. The material was inputted into a specially created database and formed the basis for geographical analysis using Mapinfo and ArcGIS. The results along with palynological modelling from a group of key sites formed the basis of a synthetic, period by period survey which provided a comprehensive record of knowledge to date, along with demonstrating gaps which could be targeted by future work.
This project has been financed through the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund administered by English Heritage. It is hoped the results of this project will provide a benchmark level of knowledge, firstly for the future management of the archaeological resource in the Nene Valley, secondly that its results will enable the better targeting of the mineral industries financial support through Planning Policy Guidance 16 (PPG 16) funded projects by identifying gaps in the present level of knowledge and common trends, and thirdly that it will serve as a model for other river valleys in which the impact of mineral extraction or the level of archaeological fieldwork has not been so great. It will also provide a synthetic body of data against which new data can be assessed.
The digital archive
The digital archive currently consists of the final project report submitted to English Heritage on completion of the project. The report is split into two parts covering the Archaeological and Environmental Record:
- Meadows,I., Boismier,W.A, and Chapman,A. 2008:Synthetic Survey of the Environmental, Archaeological and Hydrological record for the River Nene from its source to Peterborough Part 1: The Archaeological and Hydrological Record. (PNUM 3453) Project Report for English Heritage.
- Brown,A.G. and Allen,P. 2008:Synthetic Survey of the Environmental, Archaeological and Hydrological record for the River Nene from its source to Peterborough Part 2: The Environmental Record. (PNUM 3453) Project Report for English Heritage.
Non-digital Archive and Publications
In addition to the reports contained within the digital archive the project also produced the following outputs:
| Lectures |
|---|
| Paper given at AEA conference March 2006: GIS Integration of Environmental and Archaeological Data from the Nene Valley, East Midlands |
| Paper given at European Association of Archaeologists conference at Cracow, Poland September 2006: Continuity or Change in the Neolithic Landscape of the Nene Valley, Central England? |
