Amateur archaeologists identify thousands of ancient sites in England | Archeology

Bronze Age barrows, Roman roads and deserted medieval villages are among nearly 13,000 previously unknown ancient sites and monuments that have been discovered by the public in recent months, it will be announced this week .

Truck drivers and doctors are among more than 1,000 people who took part in Deep Time, a “citizen science project” that harnessed the power of amateurs to comb through 512 km² (200 square miles) of observational data from the Earth, including high resolution satellite data and lidar – laser technology – imaging.

Participants were searching for ancient features in three distinct landscapes: an area of ​​the Peak District covering Derbyshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire; Wallington in Northumberland; and Purbeck and Studland in Dorset.

They found, among other discoveries, 262 possible Bronze Age burial mounds and three Roman roads. The project is a partnership between DigVentures, an archeology social enterprise, and the National Trust, which owns and manages large areas of these landscapes.

Maiya Pina-Dacier, senior archaeologist at DigVentures, said: “We now have the preliminary results and they are truly impressive. Our citizen scientists – or “pastronauts,” as we call them – have identified 12,802 previously unknown ancient sites and monuments.”

Pina-Dacier said the discoveries were particularly exciting because “all of this was accomplished in just three months and involved local, national and international citizens, many of whom had never done archeology before.”

Dr Brendon Wilkins, founder and co-chief executive of DigVentures, said: “Thanks to our astronauts, we have been able to map much larger areas, in much greater detail and much more quickly than professional archaeologists could have. do it alone.

“I'm really excited about the scale of what's been found…We can now go out into the field, with many of the participants who helped us find these sites…check them out in the field and eventually excavate them. This is the prehistoric landscape emerging beneath the modern terrain system.

Founded in 2012, DigVentures enables public participation in archaeology. Thousands of people are attracted by his activities. Archaeologists have not given the precise location of the latest discoveries to deter illicit excavations.

The project, funded by Innovate UK and the Heritage Innovation Fund, also looks at the impact of the climate crisis on our landscapes: “the interconnectedness between our historic environment and our natural environments”, said Wilkins, emphasizing that archaeological mapping and ecological The “assets” make it possible to better plan reforestation work, for example, without damaging existing archeology.

He added: “To meet its net zero targets, the UK needs to transform at least 700 km² of land per year. Citizen science programs like this can directly support these efforts by helping to map and increase our understanding of the landscapes in question before work begins.

“All three landscapes we studied are already affected by climate change, and the National Trust is doing considerable work in each of them to implement nature recovery and landscape resilience measures, such as reforestation , coastal defenses and carbon sequestration.

Tom Dommett, head of historic environment at the National Trust, said: “Climate change is already affecting some of our most distinctive landscapes, and we are taking important steps to make them more resilient. We are absolutely thrilled with the enormous collective effort put in by citizen scientists in this project to help us do even more of this work.

The National Trust looks after 123km² of land across the Peak District National Park, in an area occupied since the Mesolithic. Archaeological research – including Paleolithic cave sites – supports conservation and habitat restoration plans, to help slow the effects of climate change.

The Purbeck and Studland Mission Area covers 35km² of National Trust property on the Isle of Purbeck, which was already known to be home to a wide variety of ancient sites and unique habitats, now vulnerable to rising sea levels. sea ​​and rapid coastal erosion.

Dr Martin Papworth, the National Trust's archaeologist for the south west, has warned that coastal sites will disappear in “just 30 years”, meaning monitoring and management of the area is crucial. This project involved identifying previously undiscovered sites before they were lost.