The first systematic recording of archaelogical sites was done dy the early Surveyors like C. W. Dymond. After World War 2, K. St Joseph pioneered the use of Aerial Photography for archaeological work. Until recently, this work was continued by Barri Jones and Bob Bewley. Aerial photography is still good for picking up sites by looking at crop marks, if conditions are right. Google Earth provides a similar perspective, but from directly above and at lesser expense. It can also be hit or miss. With the advent of Lidar, we are now able to see the height of the terrain in minute detail. Lidar can pick out coherent detail that we cannot see on the ground even when standing on it. With Lidar we can identify many more sites with a high degree of accuracy. I can then apply the modern optimisation algorithms in NRest to pick out the simplest geometric components of the some sites. Looking at many sites we can continue the process of Classification. All these methods continue to provide useful information, but for the first time, we are in a position to exploit this explosion of new digital data. Finding new sites and reinterpreting existing sites. Something not available to earlier generations.
My journey started with the Field archaeology of Kentmere. If I was to understand what I was looking at, this soon necessitated a comparative study of nearby sites which became the Mayburgh Riverine Project. Looking at the Casterton Stone Circle encouraged me to survey the nearby Lune valley for further signs of the Bronze Age. Encouraged by Dr Rebecca Younger's Phd thesis, De-hengeing the Henge (Glasgow 2015), I continued trying to classify the sites I was looking at. Ancient Babylonian Geometry was assessed to establish their state of knowledge and what surveying methods they might have used. A final surprise arrived in the shape of a Gene testing kit from my daughter - prehistory suddenly seemed a lot closer.
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Ancient Geometry and The Rule of Six -
Classification of Neolithic and Bronze Age Monuments using Geometry -
NRest software in action - Moel Ty Uchaf -
NRest Archive - Moel Ty Uchaf -
Ancient Roads -
Genetic Studies -
Quartz Twins Not knowing the number of my days, I publish chosen sites and notes directly online. Lacking resources, permission and time, little has been verified on the ground. I publish first and reassess later. Future archaeologists may say "What a load of rubbish!", but I will smile my ghostly smile, knowing that at least the sites were documented. [Nullius in Verba]
My work has only been possible by the use of Joe Ridley's Gradient software. It produces the high resolution black and white Lidar images on this site. These contain more detail than the more usual hill-shade images.
The Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society in Kendal Library has been an invaluable resource. Alongside Dr M.W. Taylor, the contribution of Thomas Hay (1873-1957) to local Cumbrian archaeology is often overlooked. Link C.W.A.A.S. As my Sadgill neighbours Martin and Jean Norgate said:Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence.