Digging of Military Positions on Salisbury Plain: Archaeological Monitoring and Recording

The AMR comprised of the excavation, investigation and recording of 28 military personnel trenches (each measuring 7.5 m long x 0.75 m wide x 1.5 m deep) using a JCB wheeled excavator with a toothless bucket. The trenches were excavated to the top of the geological/archaeological horizon under archaeological supervision. Once the appropriate archaeological recording of a trench was fully completed that trench was excavated to depth by the relevant military personnel, as per the training exercise with no further archaeological investigation required. Each trench was handed over to military personnel on a trench by trench basis on completion of archaeological recording. At key points during the fieldwork briefings were provided by Wessex Archaeology staff to attending military personnel to ensure all personnel were aware of those trenches which had been archaeologically completed, and those which remained under archaeological investigation. A visual marker, comprising of upstanding grid pegs, was utilised to aid with distinction between completed and incomplete trenches. The attending archaeologist monitored all mechanical excavations within the specified area. Where necessary, the surfaces of possible uncovered archaeological features and deposits were cleaned by hand to aid visual definition. No archaeological features or deposits were uncovered during the AMR. Spoil from machine stripping and hand-excavated archaeological deposits was visually scanned for the purposes of finds retrieval. Artefacts were collected and bagged by context. All artefacts from excavated contexts were to be retained, although those from features of modern date (19th century or later) were recorded on site and not retained. A generally consistent depth in topsoil was recorded across all 28 trenches, overlaying the natural chalk geology. In some trenches variable depths of subsoil and in places deposits of colluvium are recorded that reflect the nature of the surrounding landscape. No archaeological features or deposits were found.