Oxford Archaeology (OA, trading name of Oxford Archaeology Limited) is one of the largest and longest-established independent archaeology and heritage practices in Europe, operating from three permanent offices in Oxford, Lancaster and Cambridge, and working across the UK. OA is a Registered Organisation with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), and carries out commercial archaeological fieldwork in advance of development, as well as a range of other heritage related services. Oxford Archaeology primarily operates in the UK, but has also carried out contracts around the world, including Sudan, Qatar, Central Asia, China and the Caribbean. Numbers of employees vary owing to the project-based nature of the work, but in 2023 OA employed over 350 people.
| Company type | Charity, Private company limited by guarantee |
|---|---|
| Industry | Archaeology Cultural Heritage |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Headquarters | , UK |
Number of locations | Oxford, Lancaster, Cambridge (As of June 2011[update]) |
Number of employees | 250 (2014)[1] |
| Website | www.oxfordarchaeology.com |
The registered head office is in Osney Mead, Oxford, southern England; this address is also the base for OA's Oxford office. Other offices are in Lancaster, northern England, and Cambridge, based at Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire, eastern England. Between 2007 and 2011, OA had offices in Mauguio (OA Méditerranée), southern France and Caen (OA Grand Ouest), northern France.
Oxford Archaeology, Oxford Office
editIn the late 1960s, the recently created Oxford City and County Museum led the archaeological response to a development boom in Oxfordshire. However, the museum lacked the resources to tackle the rescue crisis alone. The museum's answer was to form independent excavation committees in response to specific development threats, starting in Oxford in 1967. These committees were registered charities with public benefit at the heart of their purpose. They employed short-term contract staff, supplemented by volunteer diggers.
Soon a number of committees were operating, which tended to have the same governing members drawn from Central and Local Government, Oxford University and local archaeological societies. They also competed for the same funds. A consensus rapidly emerged that this duplication was wasteful and that all the committees should pool their resources to provide a county-wide service for archaeological research, using the opportunities presented by development. Thus, the Oxfordshire Archaeological Committee and its executive arm, the Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit, came into existence in 1973.[2]
In the following years, the company adjusted flexibly to changing conditions, and expanded outside the county (hence the change in name to the Oxford Archaeological Unit). It also became a limited liability company, adjusted to new funding streams, and it embraced new methods and technologies. The company began trading as Oxford Archaeology in 2001.
Recent notable excavations include the excavation of prehistoric flint scatters and a Roman bloomery at the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road,[3] the medieval friary of Greyfriars at Westgate Oxford,[4] and a WWI mass grave of Australian soldiers at Fromelles.[5]
Oxford Archaeology, Lancaster Office
editThe Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU), together with its staff, became the northern office of Oxford Archaeology on 1 November 2001. This followed a decision that the needs of a professional archaeological unit could no longer be best served by its continuance within the university. The Lancaster office continued the wide range of work undertaken in the past, from desk-based assessments, through evaluation and rapid surveys of both the landscape and the built and industrial environments, to major excavations. Particular specialisations are upland survey and the excavation and recording of standing industrial remains.
The Lancaster office has taken the lead within OA on all archaeological projects carried out by the organisation throughout the north of England. It has worked on a great number of sites across northern England, and brought them to publication. These have included infrastructure projects on the A1(M), A66, the Asselby to Pannal and West East Link Main pipelines, and the Carlisle North Development Route (CNDR).[6] The Lancaster office has also worked extensively on cemeteries and burials across northern England, including a Viking cemetery at Cumwhitton,[7] medieval and post-medieval graveyards, and at Furness Abbey[8] where a high-ranking clergyman was excavated. Since the North was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the investigation of factories, mills and workers’ housing also forms an important part of the work carried out by the Lancaster office.
Oxford Archaeology, Cambridge Office
editIn 2008, Cambridgeshire County Council's Field Unit, CAMARC, joined Oxford Archaeology as its third regional centre. CAMARC itself was a recently revised name for an organisation that had been given a variety of titles over more than 20 years of existence. Its lineage started in the early 1980s with Manpower Services Commission-funded community programme projects, and it continued to carry out developer-funded work in the mid-80s as the 'Archaeological Field Unit'.
The Cambridge office continues to deliver major programmes for infrastructure projects and for smaller-scale developments in both rural and urban areas. Its large rural landscape projects include complex Middle Bronze Age field systems, enclosures and settlements at Clay Farm, Trumpington. Recent urban schemes include the Itter Crescent Roman villa excavation in Peterborough[9] and excavations of Victorian and Medieval settlement relating to Stourbridge Fair at Harvest Way, Newmarket Road, Cambridge.[10]
Publication
editHaving published some 230 monographs, reports and booklets, Oxford Archaeology has established itself as a major publisher of archaeological reports with the production of monograph series,[11] such as Thames Valley Landscapes and Lancaster Imprints, and contributions to other major series, including East Anglian Archaeology Reports.[12] OA has also produced many ‘popular’ publications, pamphlets and booklets written in a less technical style.[13]
List of publications:
| Title | Year of publication | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Wallingford: the archaeological implications of development, Oxford | 1973 | Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit Surveys |
| Excavations on the route of the M40 | 1973 | Oxoniensia Special Volume |
| The Upper Thames Valley: an archaeological survey of the river gravels | 1974 | Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit Surveys |
| Historic towns in Oxfordshire: a survey of the new county, Oxfordshire | 1974 | Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit Surveys |
| Archaeology and agriculture: a survey of modern cultivation methods and the problems of assessing plough damage to archaeological sites | 1977 | Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit Surveys |
| The excavation of an Iron Age settlement, Bronze Age ring-ditches and Roman features at Ashville Trading Estate, Abingdon (Oxfordshire), 1974-76 | 1978 | CBA Research Report |
| Iron Age and Roman riverside settlements at Farmoor, Oxfordshire | 1979 | CBA Research Report |
| Archaeology at Barton Court Farm, Abingdon, Oxfordshire | 1984 | CBA Research Report |
| The Rollright Stones: megaliths, monuments, and settlement in the prehistoric landscape | 1988 | English Heritage Archaeological Report |
| Archaeology on the Cambridgeshire County Farms Estate: a review of archaeological management on the estate | 1990 | Cambridgeshire County Council |
| An Iron Age and Romano-British enclosed settlement at Watkins Farm, Northmoor, Oxon | 1990 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Reading Business Park: a Bronze Age landscape | 1992 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The prehistoric landscape and Iron Age enclosed settlement at Mingies Ditch, Hardwick-with-Yelford, Oxon | 1993 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Excavations at Roughground Farm, Lechlade, Gloucestershire: a prehistoric and Roman landscape | 1993 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The wetlands of Merseyside | 1994 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The wetlands of Greater Manchester | 1995 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The wetlands of north Lancashire | 1995 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations at the Devil's Quoits, Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, 1972-3 and 1988 | 1995 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| In Harvey's House and in God's House: excavations at Eynsham Abbey 1991-3 | 1995 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Lithics and landscape: archaeological discoveries on the Thames Water pipeline at Gatehampton Farm, Goring, Oxfordshire 1985-92 | 1995 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Two Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries: Berinsfield and Didcot | 1995 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Transect through time: the archaeological landscape of the Shell North Western Ethylene Pipeline (English section) | 1996 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The Archaeology of Lancashire: present state and future priorities | 1996 | Lancaster University Archaeological Unit |
| The wetlands of Cheshire | 1997 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Derwentcote Steel Furnace: an industrial monument in County Durham | 1997 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Asthall, Oxfordshire: excavations in a Roman 'small town', 1992 | 1997 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Edix Hill (Barrington A), Cambridgeshire: excavations 1989-1991 and a summary catalogue of material from 19th century interventions | 1998 | CBA Research Report |
| The Still, Peterborough: medieval remains between Cumbergate and Westgate | 1998 | CCC AFU Monograph |
| The wetlands of Shropshire and Staffordshire | 1998 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations at Springhead Roman Town, Southfleet, Kent | 1998 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Butler's Field, Lechlade, Gloucestershire. Volume 1: prehistoric and Roman activity and grave catalogue | 1998 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Excavations at Larkwhistle Farm, Brimpton, Berkshire | 1999 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Excavations at Thatcham Northern Distributor Road, Berkshire | 1999 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Excavations at Duffield House, Woodley, Berkshire | 1999 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Excavations at Friar Street, Reading, Berkshire | 1999 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Excavations alongside Roman Ermin Street, Gloucesteshire and Wiltshire: the archaeology of the A419/417 Swindon to Gloucester road scheme | 1999 | Oxford Archaeological Unit Report |
| Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire. Volume 1: the Neolithic and Bronze Age monument complex | 1999 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The lowland wetlands of Cumbria | 2000 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Bremetenacum: excavations at Roman Ribchester 1980, 1989-90 | 2000 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations at The Paddock, Rectory Lane, Fringford | 2000 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Excavation of the medieval waterfront at King Stable Street, Eton, Berkshire | 2000 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Urban archaeological practice in Ireland | 2000 | Oxford Archaeological Unit Strategic Reviews |
| Review of archaeological assessment and monitoring procedures in Ireland | 2000 | Oxford Archaeological Unit Strategic Reviews |
| Excavations at Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, 1994 | 2000 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Roman forts in the fylde: excavations at Dowbridge Close, Kirkham 1994 | 2000 | University of Lancaster |
| Henry VIII's coastal artillery fort at Camber Castle, Rye, East Sussex | 2001 | English Heritage Archaeological Report |
| The excavation of medieval and post-medieval remains at Poyle House, Berkshire | 2001 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Beaumont Palace and the White Friars: excavations at the Sackler Library, Beaumont Street, Oxford | 2001 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| The excavation of a medieval rural settlement at the Pepper Hill Lane Electricity Substation, Northfleet, Kent | 2001 | OAU Occasional Paper |
| Evaluation of archaeological decision-making processes and sampling strategies | 2001 | Oxford Archaeological Unit Strategic Reviews |
| Excavations at Melford Meadows, Brettenham, 1994: Romano-British and early Saxon occupations | 2002 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| Unpublished excavations in the Republic of Ireland, 1930-1997 | 2002 | Oxford Archaeological Unit Strategic Reviews |
| The Hotties: excavation and building survey at Pilkington's No 9 Tank House, St Helens, Merseyside | 2002 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Steeped in history: the alum industry of north-east Yorkshire | 2002 | North York Moors National Park Authority |
| Excavations in the extramural settlement of Roman Alchester, Oxfordshire, 1991 | 2002 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The excavation of a medieval manor house of the bishops of Winchester at Mount House, Witney, Oxfordshire, 1984-1992 | 2002 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Gathering the people, settling the land: the archaeology of a middle Thames landscape, Anglo-Saxon to medieval | 2002 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| A late Iron Age farmstead and Romano-British site at Haddon, Peterborough | 2003 | CCC AFU Monograph |
| The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Worthy Park, Kingsworthy, near Winchester, Hampshire | 2003 | Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph |
| Lines in the landscape: cursus monuments in the Upper Thames Valley; excavations at the Drayton and Lechlade cursuses | 2003 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Aelfric's Abbey: excavations at Eynsham Abbey, Oxfordshire, 1989-92 | 2003 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Oxford before the University: the late Saxon and Norman archaeology of the Thames Crossing, the defences and the town | 2003 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road: the A5 in North Wales | 2004 | CBA Research Report |
| The Tower of London Moat: archaeological excavations 1995-9 | 2004 | Historic Royal Palaces Monograph |
| Old Abbey Farm, Risley: building survey and excavation at a medieval moated site | 2004 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Prehistoric and Romano-British settlement at Queen Elizabeth Square, Maidstone | 2004 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Uffington White Horse and its Landscape: investigations at White Horse Hill, Uffington, 1989–95 and Tower Hill, Ashbury, 1993-4 | 2004 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Green Park (Reading Business Park): Phase 2 excavations 1995. Neolithic and Bronze Age sites | 2004 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Yarnton: Saxon and medieval settlement and landscape: results of excavations 1990-96 | 2004 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Thornhill Farm, Fairford Gloucestershire: an Iron Age and Roman pastoral site in the Upper Thames Valley | 2004 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Gravelly Guy, Stanton Harcourt: the development of a prehistoric and Romano-British community | 2004 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Archaeology of the Jubilee Line extension: prehistoric and Roman activity at Stratford Market Depot, West Ham, London, 1991-1993 | 2005 | Museum of London Archaeology Service |
| Kilkenny city walls: conservation plan | 2005 | Oxford Archaeology Strategic Reviews |
| Barentin's Manor: excavations of the moated manor at Harding's Field, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire 1976-9 | 2005 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Landscape evolution in the middle Thames Valley: Heathrow Terminal 5 excavations. Volume 1: Perry Oaks | 2006 | Framework Archaeology Monograph |
| The Tower of London New Armouries project | 2006 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Late Bronze Age ritual and habitation on a Thames Eyot at Whitecross Farm, Wallingford: the archaeology of the Wallingford Bypass 1986-92 | 2006 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Edward III's round table at Windsor | 2007 | Arthurian Studies |
| Fairfield Park: later prehistoric settlement in the eastern Chilterns | 2007 | Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph |
| The archaeology of the A1(M) Darrington to Dishforth DBFO road scheme | 2007 | Lancaster Imprints |
| A&G Murray and the cotton mills of Ancoats | 2007 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations of medieval and early post-medieval features at 90-93 Broad St, Reading, and the excavation of medieval pits and a probable 16th- to 17th-century tavern or inn at 7-8 Broad St, Reading Berkshire, 2002 | 2007 | OA Occasional Paper |
| A Roman rural landscape at Kempsford Quarry, Gloucestershire | 2007 | OA Occasional Paper |
| From stadium to station: Rewley Abbey and Rewley Road Station, Oxford | 2007 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Recent developments in research and management at World Heritage Sites | 2007 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Archaeology in Bath: excavations at the New Royal Baths (the Spa), and Bellott's Hospital 1998-1999 | 2007 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Death and taxes: the archaeology of a Middle Saxon estate centre at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire | 2007 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Newtown Jerpoint, County Kilkenny: conservation plan | 2007 | Oxford Archaeology Strategic Reviews |
| A slice of rural Essex: archaeological discoveries from the A120 between Stansted Airport and Braintree | 2007 | Oxford Wessex Monograph |
| Excavations at Radley Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire. Volume 2: the Romano-British cemetery and Anglo-Saxon settlement | 2007 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Iron Age and Roman settlement in the Upper Thames Valley: excavations at Claydon Pike and other sites within the Cotswold Water Park | 2007 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The Thames through time: the early historical period. Rome and the Anglo-Saxons in the Thames Valley c AD 1-1000 | 2007 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Settlement on the Bedfordshire Claylands: archaeology along the A421 Great Barford Bypass | 2008 | Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph |
| A late Iron Age farmstead and Romano-British site at Haddon, Peterborough | 2008 | CCC AFU Monograph |
| Ely wares | 2008 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| From hunter gatherers to huntsmen: a history of the Stansted landscape | 2008 | Framework Archaeology Monograph |
| Norton Priory: monastery to museum excavations, 1970-87 | 2008 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The Roman roadside settlement at Westhawk Farm, Ashford, Kent. Excavations 1998-9 | 2008 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| ‘Safe Moor’d in Greenwich Tier’: a study of the skeletons of Royal Navy sailors and marines excavated at the Royal Hospital | 2008 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Life and Death in a Roman city: excavation of a Roman cemetery with a mass grave at 120-122 London Road, Gloucester | 2008 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The archaeology of the M6 Toll 2000-2003 | 2008 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Saved from the grave: Neolithic to Saxon discoveries at Spring Road municipal cemetery, Abingdon, Oxfordshire | 2008 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The Carlisle Millennium Project: excavations in Carlisle 1998-2001. Volume 1: stratigraphy | 2009 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The Carlisle Millennium Project: excavations in Carlisle 1998-2001. Volume 2: finds | 2009 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Appleford's earliest farmers: archaeology at Appleford Sidings, Oxon, 1993-2000 | 2009 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Archaeology in the park: excavations at Jennett's Park, Bracknell, Berkshire | 2009 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Between villa and town: excavations of a Roman roadside settlement and shrine at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire | 2009 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| ‘In the vaults beneath’: archaeological recording at St George's Church, Bloomsbury | 2009 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The Thames through time: the first foundations of modern society in the Thames Valley, 1500 BC - AD 50 | 2009 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Excavations at Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire: a late Bronze Age and Iron hillfort | 2009 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Farmers and Ironsmiths: prehistoric, Roman and Saxon settlement at land near Brandon Road, Thetford, Norfolk, 2002 | 2010 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| Landscape evolution in the middle Thames Valley: Heathrow Terminal 5 excavations, volume 2 | 2010 | Framework Archaeology Monograph |
| Neolithic to Saxon social and environmental change at Mount Farm, Berinsfield, Dorchester-on-Thames | 2010 | OA Occasional Paper |
| Castle Hill and its landscape: archaeological investigations at the Wittenhams, Oxfordshire | 2010 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The late Roman cemetery at Lankhills, Winchester, excavations 2000-2005 | 2010 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Evolution of a farming community in the Upper Thames Valley: excavation of a prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman landscape at Cotswold Community, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 2010 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Carlisle: excavations at Rickergate, 1998-9 and 53-55 Botchergate, 2001 | 2011 | Cumbria Archaeological Research Report |
| Archaeology of the Newland: excavations in King's Lynn, Norfolk 2003-5 | 2011 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| Life and afterlife at Duxford, Cambridgeshire: archaeology and history in a chalkland community | 2011 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| Bewsey Old Hall, Warrington, Cheshire: excavations 1977-81 and 1983-5 | 2011 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations in North-West Kent, 2005-2007: one hundred thousand years of human activity in and around the Darent Valley | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Winchester, a city in the making: archaeological excavations between 2002-2007 on the sites of Northgate House, Staple Gardens and the former Winchester Library, Jewry St | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| ‘Finished labour of a thousand hands’: the archaeology of the Combe Down Stone Mines, Bath, Somerset | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| From Mesolithic to motorway: the archaeology of the M1 (Junction 6A-10) widening scheme | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Trade and prosperity, war and poverty: an archaeological and historical investigation into Southampton's French Quarter | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Historic landscape characterisation in Ireland: best practice guidance | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Strategic Reviews |
| Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley: High Speed 1 excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent, the late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval landscape. Volume 1: the sites | 2011 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley: High Speed 1 excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent, the late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval landscape. Volume 2: late Iron Age to Roman finds reports | 2011 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley: High Speed 1 excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent, the late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval landscape. Volume 3: late Iron Age to Roman human remains and environmental reports | 2011 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley: High Speed 1 excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent, the late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and medieval landscape. Volume 4: Saxon and later finds and environmental reports | 2011 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| On Track: the archaeology of High Speed 1 Section 1 in Kent | 2011 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The Thames through time: the archaeology of the gravel terraces of the Upper and Middle Thames. Early prehistory to 1500 BC | 2011 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Butler's Field, Lechlade, Gloucestershire. Volume 2: the Anglo-Saxon grave goods, specialist reports, phasing and discussion | 2011 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Cirencester before Corinium: excavations at Kingshill North, Cirencester, Gloucestershire | 2011 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Yarnton: Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement and Landscape. Results of Excavations 1990-98 | 2011 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Cockermouth, Cumbria: archaeological investigation of three burgage plots in Main Street | 2012 | Cumbria Archaeological Research Report |
| Extraordinary inundations of the sea: excavations at Market Mews, Wisbech | 2012 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| Cairns, fields and cultivation: archaeological landscapes of the Lake District uplands | 2012 | Lancaster Imprints |
| A road through the past: archaeological discoveries on the A2 Pepperhill to Cobham road-scheme in Kent | 2012 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Landscape and prehistory of the east London Wetlands: investigations along the A13 DBFO road scheme, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking and Dagenham, 2000-2003 | 2012 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| London Gateway: Iron Age and Roman salt making in the Thames Estuary. Excavation at Stanford Wharf Nature Reserve, Essex | 2012 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Longbridge Deverill Cow Down: An Early Iron Age Settlement in West Wiltshire | 2012 | Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph |
| A late Saxon village and medieval manor: excavations at Botolph Bridge, Orton Longueville, Peterborough, 1987 and 1999-2000 | 2013 | East Anglian Archaeology Report |
| The wetlands of south west Lancashire | 2013 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Early landscapes of West and North Yorkshire: archaeological investigation along the Asselby To Pannal Natural Gas Pipeline 2007-8 | 2013 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Scots Dyke to Turnpike: the archaeology of the A66, Greta Bridge to Scotch Corner | 2013 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The Iron Age and Roman landscape of Marston Vale: investigations along the A421 Improvements, M1 Junction 13 to Bedford | 2013 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The Ebbsfleet elephant: excavations at Southfleet Road, Swanscombe in advance of High Speed 1, 2003-4 | 2013 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Thames Holocene: A geoarchaeological approach to the investigation of the river floodplain for High Speed 1, 1994–2003 | 2013 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Under the Oracle: excavations at the Oracle Shopping Centre site 1996-8. The medieval and post-medieval urban development of the Kennet floodplain in Reading | 2013 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Prehistoric settlement in the Lower Kennet Valley: excavations at Green Park (Reading Business Park) Phase 3 and Moores Farm, Burghfield, Berkshire | 2013 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Opening the wood, making the Land: the Archaeology of a Middle Thames Landscape. The Eton College Rowing Course Project and the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme. Volume 1: Mesolithic to early Bronze Age | 2013 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Excavations at Zeugma conducted by Oxford Archaeology | 2013 | The Packard Humanities Institute |
| Given to the Ground’: a Viking-age mass grave on Ridgeway Hill, Weymouth | 2014 | Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph |
| ‘Down to Weymouth town by Ridgeway’: prehistoric, Roman and later sites along the Weymouth Relief Road | 2014 | Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph |
| Shadows in the sand: excavation of a Viking-Age cemetery at Cumwhitton | 2014 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Archaeology at the waterfront. Volume 1: Liverpool Docks | 2014 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The archaeology of Banbury Flood Alleviation Scheme, Oxfordshire: Neolithic and Roman occupation in the Cherwell Valley | 2014 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Broughton, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: the evolution of south Midlands landscape | 2014 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Remember me to all': the archaeological recovery and identification of soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Fromelles, 1916 | 2014 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Solent-Thames research framework for the historic environment: resource assessments and research agendas | 2014 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Penrith: the historic core. Excavation and standing building surveys | 2015 | Cumbria Archaeological Research Report |
| Excavations along the M25: prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon activity between Aveley and Epping, Essex | 2015 | Essex Society for Archaeology and History Occasional Papers |
| Digging at the Gateway: archaeological landscape of South Thanet. The archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase II). Volume 1: the sites | 2015 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| Digging at the Gateway: archaeological landscape of South Thanet. The archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase II). Volume 2: the finds, environmental and dating reports | 2015 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| The changing face of London: historic buildings and the Crossrail route | 2016 | Crossrail Archaeology Series |
| From Brunel to British Rail: the railway heritage of the Crossrail route | 2016 | Crossrail Archaeology Series |
| New frontier: the origins and development of West London | 2016 | Crossrail Archaeology Series |
| The production and distribution of medieval pottery in Cambridgeshire | 2016 | East Anglian Archaeology Series |
| Lost landscapes of Palaeolithic Britain | 2016 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| A Roman villa and other Iron Age and Roman discoveries at Bredon's Norton, Fiddington and Pamington along the Gloucester Security of Supply pipeline | 2016 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Yarnton: Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement and landscape | 2016 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| From Blackfriars to Bankside: medieval and later riverfront archaeology along the route of Thameslink, central London | 2016 | Thameslink Monograph |
| The Horningsea Roman pottery industry in context | 2017 | East Anglian Archaeology Series |
| From bridgehead to brewery: the medieval and post-medieval archaeological remains from Finzel's Reach, Bristol | 2017 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Horcott Quarry, Fairford and Arkell's Land, Kempsford: prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement and burial in the Upper Thames Valley in Gloucestershire | 2017 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Living and dying in Southwark 1587-1831: excavations at Cure's College Burial Ground, Park Street | 2017 | Thameslink Monograph |
| Footprints from the past. The south-eastern extra-mural settlement of Roman Alchester and rural occupation in its hinterland: The archaeology of East West Rail Phase 1 | 2018 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Excavations at Wixoe Roman small town, Suffolk | 2018 | East Anglian Archaeology Series |
| Gill Mill. Later prehistoric landscape and a Roman nucleated settlement in the lower Windrush Valley near Witney, Oxfordshire | 2018 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| From Mesolithic encampment to medieval estate: The archaeology of the Bay Gateway | 2018 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Woodford, the archaeology of a landscape and aerodrome | 2018 | Greater Manchester’s Past Revealed |
| Architecture, burial and reform: the Upper Brook Street Unitarian chapel, Manchester | 2018 | Greater Manchester’s Past Revealed |
| Conquering the claylands: Excavations at Love’s Farm, St Neots, Cambridgeshire | 2018 | East Anglian Archaeology series |
| In the shadow of Corinium: Prehistoric and Roman occupation at Kingshill South, Cirencester, Gloucestershire | 2018 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| Berryfields. Iron Age settlement and a Roman bridge, field system and settlement along Akeman Street near Fleet Marston, Buckinghamshire | 2019 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Torre Abbey, Devon: The archaeology of the Premonstratensian abbey | 2019 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Cutacre. Excavating a prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval landscape | 2019 | Greater Manchester’s Past Revealed |
| Yeoman farmers and handloom weavers: the archaeology of the Kingsway Business Park | 2019 | Greater Manchester’s Past Revealed |
| Rectory Farm, Godmanchester: excavations 1988–1995, Neolithic monument to Roman villa farm | 2019 | East Anglian Archaeology Series |
| Excavations at Oxford Castle 1999–2009 | 2019 | Thames Valley Landscapes |
| A bath house, settlement and industry on Roman Southwark’s North Island. Excavations along the route of Thameslink Borough Viaduct and at London Bridge Station | 2019 | OAPCA Thameslink Monograph |
| Roman and medieval Carlisle: the northern Lanes, excavations 1978 82. Volume 1: the Roman period | 2019 | Lancaster Imprints |
| St Michael's Church, Workington, excavation of an early medieval cemetery | 2019 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Brothers Minor: Lancashire's Lost Franciscans: Investigations at Preston Friary 1991 and 2007 | 2020 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Excavations at Stoke Quay, Ipswich. Southern Gipeswic and the parish of St Augustine | 2020 | East Anglian Archaeology Series |
| The archaeology of Oxford in the 21st century: Investigations in the city by Oxford Archaeology, 2006-2016 | 2020 | Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Occasional Paper |
| Bridging the past: Life in medieval and post-medieval Southwark. Excavations along the route of Thameslink Borough Viaduct and at London Bridge Station | 2020 | OAPCA Thameslink Monograph |
| Prehistoric Ebbsfleet: Excavations and research in advance of High Speed 1 and South Thameside Development Route 4, 1989-2003 | 2020 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology Monograph |
| The Castle Hill Brickworks and Somerhill Estate. Post-medieval discoveries on the A21 Tonbridge-to-Pembury Dualling Scheme, Kent | 2021 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| London Gateway. Settlement, farming and industry from prehistory to the present in the Thames Estuary. Archaeological investigations at DP World London Gateway Port and Logistics Park, Essex, and on the Hoo Peninsula, Kent | 2021 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Farmers and Weavers: Investigation at Kingsway Business Park and Cutacre Country Park, Greater Manchester | 2021 | Lancaster Imprints |
| The patients’ story. Dr Radcliffe's legacy in the age of hospitals. Excavations at the 18th–19th century Radcliffe Infirmary Burial Ground, Oxford | 2022 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| The early medieval monastic site at Dacre, Cumbria | 2022 | Lancaster Imprints |
| Harpole: The landscape of a Roman villa at Panattoni Park, Northamptonshire | 2022 | Oxford Archaeology Monograph |
| Roman and medieval Carlisle. The Northern Lanes, volume two: The medieval and post-medieval periods | 2022 | Lancaster Imprints |
Publications include Yarnton: Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement and Landscape,[14] which describes the Iron Age and Roman occupation of a multi-period landscape on the floodplain and gravel terrace of the River Thames, Archaeology at the Waterfront: 1: Investigating Liverpool's Historic Docks,[15] which presents the findings of the largest campaign of archaeological investigation yet undertaken along Liverpool's historic waterfront by Oxford Archaeology North and the National Museums Liverpool Field Archaeology Unit, ‘Remember me to all’: The archaeological recovery and identification of soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Fromelles, 1916,[16] which describes Oxford Archaeology's contribution to a joint Australian and British government mission, under the management of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to recover the soldiers and re-bury them with full military honours in a new Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Fromelles, and Broughton, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: The evolution of a South Midlands landscape,[17] which reports on extensive excavations near the village of Broughton on the outskirts of Milton Keynes that revealed the fluctuating fortunes of neighbouring settlements from the Iron Age to the medieval period.
Oxford Archaeology has contributed many archaeology reports and research papers to county, national and period archaeological journals.[18]
In addition, as part of its commitment to open access for archaeological data, Oxford Archaeology has developed the Knowledge Hub, an online resource used to disseminate digital material, including ‘grey literature’ client reports grey literature online,[19] monographs, and supporting archives produced by Oxford Archaeology. It also makes available internally developed software on the Launchpad site under the umbrella project Open Archaeology.[20]
Archaeological survey
editOxford Archaeology has incorporated digital survey techniques into its geomatics work. The most notable of these techniques is photogrammetric mapping, which uses photographs taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to create accurate three-dimensional models of the archaeological evidence, including artefacts, historic buildings or whole landscapes. Other techniques for data capture include differential RTK GPS, 3D laser scanning, Lidar and Total Station surveys.
During excavations by OA at Westgate Oxford, the site of a medieval Greyfriars friary, three-dimensional models were generated through a combination of standard archaeological survey techniques and photogrammetric or structure from motion techniques.[21] Photogrammetry and 3D modelling has not been confined to structures. The skeletons from a late Roman and Saxon cemetery at Cherry Hinton in Cambridge,[22] excavated by OA's Cambridge office, were recorded using photogrammetry. UAVs have been used by OA's Lancaster office to map extensive landscapes, such as the former Greenside lead mine in the Lake District. The combination of a UAV, photogrammetry and detailed orthophotos captured the complex lead mining landscape, which comprised spoil heaps, mine shafts, wheel pits, engine houses, and trackways, among other remains. Oxford Archaeology uses a hand-held laser scanner that has an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a small scanner mounted on top. These features allow the scanner to fix its location precisely and the surveyor to record the interior of a building in as much time as it takes to walk through it. Combining photogrammetry with the laser scanner also allows whole buildings to be recorded in 3D. The Lancaster office has employed the hand-held laser scanner to record Daisy Mill, a former Victorian cotton mill in south Manchester, and Lion Mill, a corn mill in Stonyhurst in Lancashire.
Charitable aims and outreach
editA registered charitable trust[23] with educational aims, OA has various outreach and community archaeology projects running alongside its commercial work. All three offices engage in outreach and public engagement, with a particular focus at OA's Cambridge office. Recent highlights include the volunteer dig at Maryport Roman settlement [24] and the Jigsaw Cambridgeshire project which trains and supports local archaeology societies across Cambridgeshire[25]
References
edit- ^ "Oxford Archaeology, registered charity no. 287786". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ^ Hassall, T.; Rowley, T.; Cunliffe, B. W. (1 January 2015). "The Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit | Cambridge Core". Antiquity. 48 (190): 93. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00054338. S2CID 163722700. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Flint scatters and other prehistoric discoveries beneath Bexhill-Hastings link road". Oxford Archaeology. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Westgate Oxford". Oxford Archaeology. 27 April 2018.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Shaoni (5 November 2014). "Mass grave tells tales of life on the Forgotten Front". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 59 (3). New Scientist: 606–12. doi:10.1111/1556-4029.12361. PMID 24606024. S2CID 22420297. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Carlisle Northern Development Route | Archaeological Post-Excavation Project". Cndr.thehumanjourney.net. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Norse Burials at Cumwhitton - in depth". Thehumanjourney.net. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Furness Abbey, Cumbria". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Roman villa 'rare and important for Peterborough' says archaeologist". BBC News. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "oaeast news". Oxford Archaeology. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Monographs and books". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "East Anglian Archaeology". Eaareports.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Popular publications". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Yarnton: Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement and Landscape". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Oxford Archaeology - Archaeology at the Waterfront: 1: Investigating Liverpool's Historic Docks". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
- ^ "Remember me to all". Oxford Archaeology. 20 July 1916. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Broughton, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: The evolution of a South Midlands landscape". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Journal articles". Oxford Archaeology. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Welcome to Oxford Archaeology's Knowledge Hub". Oxford Archaeology Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ "The Open Archaeology Software Suite in Launchpad". Launchpad.net. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Oxford Westgate - Medieval Greyfriars Complex". Sketchfab. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ "'Highly important' Anglo-Saxon village remains discovered in Cambridge housing site". Cambridge News. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Registered charity 285627
- ^ "Maryport Roman settlement: Dig unearths 'lost harbour'". BBC News. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Home". Jigsawcambs.org. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
External links
editFurther reading
edit- Darvill, T (ed.) (2003). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280005-1.