Depositional context as the foundation to determining the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeological potential of offshore wind farm areas in the Southern North Sea

Ingrid Ward

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    There is currently limited evidence on which to assess the submerged prehistoric potential in areas of renewable energy development. This paper presents a geomorphological approach to examine the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeological potential in relation to the Round 3 offshore wind farm (OWF) areas of the southern North Sea. The depositional context and major stratigraphic correlations between the terrestrial sequence on east coast of Britain and offshore marine sequence of the southern North Sea are used to provide a first-order assessment for identifying horizons of archaeological interest in OWF zones. Using the examples Triton Knoll and East Anglia One OWF, the nature of renewable energy development on identified archaeological horizons is discussed, noting that any impact needs to be considered on a site-by-site basis. Studies are not only needed on the practical assessment of any development impact but also on the impacts of natural processes in OWF zones.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)212-235
    Number of pages24
    JournalConservation & Management of Archaeological Sites
    Volume16
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2014

    Keywords

    • Archaeology
    • North Sea
    • Offshore
    • Sediments
    • Stratigraphy
    • Wind farm

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Depositional context as the foundation to determining the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeological potential of offshore wind farm areas in the Southern North Sea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this