Geophysical Survey in the Archaeology of Scotland: Recent Developments and Results

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reviews the current state of geophysics in Scottish archaeology, considering the scope of the surveys, the range of targets investigated and techniques deployed, as well as the practitioners and commissioners of surveys. Several issues of methodology and interpretation are illustrated through case studies taken from mainland Scotland, Orkney and the Isle of Lewis. One of these focuses on the relative frequency of poor magnetic and earth resistance responses recorded over ditch and pit features due to drift geology and soil conditions, and the efforts to explain those responses in terms of soil properties. This leads to the recommendation that archaeo-geophysics can only benefit from aligning itself on a regular basis with geoarchaeology since their respective subject areas often converge more than is usually recognised. Another recommendation is the need for fuller dissemination of the graphical output of surveys as well as access to raw data to encourage a more critical view of how interpretations of individual geophysical anomalies are made.