Geological interpretation and excavation in Bucks

Late summer 2010, Buckingham and Stowe in Buckinghamshire

One full day in the field discovering some of the exciting geology on offer - from Ice Age history to the Cretaceous 'hot house'; training information provided before the weekend. The exact locations will be determined by July 2010, so please ask for more details then or put your name down on the information list.

£20 ,10 am to 4.30 pm

Full training and lots of handouts will be supplied. These events will be held on various dates in 2010, dependant on access to the quarry being confirmed. Places are highly sought after, so if you are interested do let me know and I will give you the latest choice of dates:

jee8@tutor.open.ac.uk

13 Pusey Way, Lane End, Bucks, HP14 3LG

The excavations are suitable for all abilities, ages (over 16) and fitness levels. The work can be divided into several areas such as geological recording, logging, site excavation, recording site sections, interpretation, sieving, environmental sampling, cleaning and preparing finds, recording finds, etc. No long distances are involved, but work can be muddy.

There will be an introductory talk to give an overview of the sites, the geology and to introduce the techniques (with demonstrations). Then everyone will be involved in one or more areas of work activity (as they choose). On-site interpretation will be given at numerous ‘pause-points’ throughout the day. More information will be sent on what to bring, location, etc.  Bring a picnic lunch, stout shoes or wellingtons, waterproof clothing, a trowel, a spade and a bucket, sieve and hand lens if you have them.  Cost: £20

Excavating is only one of many jobs on site. You can choose which tasks you want to take part in and swap when you want a change.

Expert help is on hand for every stage of the project.

                                                     Collecting sand samples

For this study this was an important task - the sand could be sieved and thus gave information as to the speed and nature of the river currents that deposited it.

Measuring palaeocurrents

By measuring these 'lines' which are known as cross-stratification to geologists, we can discover exactly which way the river flowed 120,000 years ago, during the Ice Age.

         A fossil shrimp burrow found in the adjacent sands.

Bones excavated from an ice age river channel in a previous site. By identifying these species we can begin to assess the climate at this moment in time.

The river channel sands and gravels from which the bones were discovered. The pole helps give scale (marked off in one metre sections). Now the section is ready for someone to draw.

An unexpected find - the dark layer at the top of this section is peat. This waterlogged sediment has preserved some archaeological features from the Iron Age. Suddenly the excavation developed an archaeological interest and a sub-team were put to work here.This is not expected this year, but shows the type of feature that can turn up during our work.