The area of the proposed pumping station and piling mat was stripped of overburden using a 360� excavator using a wide toothless grading bucket. The excavation area measured 39.70m by 22.12m and was excavated initially down to a maximum depth of 0.49m below the top of ground level.Excavations began in the north-eastern corner of the site, and it was half-stripped north-east to south-west in order for the dumper to be able to stay on top of the overburden. The remaining half of the area was then excavated from the south-west to the north-east, so that the two 360� excavators and the dumper could be stationed in the south-easternmost corner of the site area. Due to the pre-constructed gravel haul road and the existing fence lines, the spoil from the excavations was piled to the immediate south-east of the site area. As there was limited space, the last south-eastern corner of the site area could not be excavated during the initial phase of the excavation. This area measured roughly 11m by 7m. During the third week of works, when the spoil was removed, this last area was excavated in full. Following the initial strip of the excavation area, the area was cleaned in full by hand and photogrammetry was undertaken. The north-western part of the site area began to slowly fill with rising ground water and standing rain water. Two trenches were excavated against the north-western baulk of the excavation area and one against the north-eastern baulk (Trench 1). These were located to examine the stratigraphy of the deposits in section and also to facilitate the geoarchaeological recording. The westernmost Trench was 10m by 1.07m and reached a depth of 1m. Trench 3 East was 13.75m long by 1m wide, and was approximately 1m deep. Trench 1 joined at a right angle to Trench 3 East at its eastern end and was orientated NNW to SSE. This was positioned to establish the shape of the peats as they tapered up to the southern edge of the excavation area. It was 7m long and excavated to a maximum depth of 0.6m. The western part of the trench quickly filled with rising ground water, while the eastern parts also filled with rising ground water albeit at a slower rate. Compounded by the wet weather, the western and northern corners of the excavation area also rapidly filled with water. Once the wet weather abated, the use of a water pump over several weeks allowed for the reduction of the water to a manageable level. This was followed by daily water pumping, in order to carry out further trenching and geoarcharchaeological sampling and recording. One additional Trench 4 was excavated through the western peat deposits. It was 14m long, 1m wide and approximately 0.75m deep (Figure 3, Section 10). It was orientated south-west to north-east. At the south-west and north-east end of the trench, two sondages were excavated to a depth of over 1.5m from the existing ground level, to examine the deeper geology. Meeting Trench 4 at a right angled T-junction was Trench 2, which was 14m long and orientated north-west to south-east (Figure 3, Section 09). This was excavated to observe the stratigraphy of the peat deposit as it became shallower up slope towards the south. Following excavation of the trenches, further works comprised the geoarchaeological recording and sampling of the peat deposits by QUEST. The trenches were cleaned and recorded in full to then allow the geoarchaeologists to conduct targeted samples of the peat deposits. Geoarchaeological samples were recovered from Trench 3, Sections 07 and 08 (samples S2 and S1, respectively). One 1.75m deep sondage was excavated towards the east end of the western length of Trench 3, to observe and sample the deeper deposits. One sondage was also excavated at the west end of this trench, reaching a depth greater than 1.5m. Further geoarchaeological samples were taken from Trench 2 (sample S4) and from Trench 4 (samples S3, S5, S6).
Davis et al. (Mon,) studied this question.