MAID in England: Modelling Archaeological Intervention Data for landscape interpretation and strategic planning in England

One of the biggest intellectual and methodological challenges facing archaeology today is how best to interpret and synthesize the huge and diverse body of site- and area-specific archaeological data that has accumulated over the past 20 years or so, and which continues to grow apace. Much of this information comes from development-led projects, surveys of various kinds using techniques such as aerial photography or geophysics, and the reporting of stray finds through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. For England alone more than 20,000 relevant interventions have been recorded since the introduction of PPG16 as a piece of planning policy guidance in 1990, but, surprisingly, the results have not yet been used to create synthetic views of past landscapes or strategic predictive models that can be used to inform future work. In areas such as the Thames Valley and A1/M1 corridor the scale of archaeological work is such that the evidence-base is changing weekly, while right across the country many landscapes are now known through multiple interventions at different scales and intensities. There is an urgent need for up-to-date information about the nature, scale, and meaning of all this archaeological data for effective deployment in the planning system and in the public interpretation of past societies and their geographies. It is a need recognized in the recently published National Heritage Protection Plan (English Heritage 2010) and one that English Heritage wishes to take forward in partnership with the academic community. The task before us is to integrate this wealth of information at various of scales to create new meaningful models of archaeological landscapes.

Modelling Archaeological Intervention Data (MAID) aims to develop and test a map-based GIS tool for interpreting archaeological landscapes in England and providing secure underpinnings for planning the nature and extent of future investigations. Modelling will be grounded in the results of research-based and commercially-driven interventions (excavations, surveys, finds etc.), supplemented by the rich data-sets held in local Historic Environment Records (HERs). The widespread availability of GIS and of relevant digital spatial information (both archaeological and non-archaeological) provides the platform for this work. Although there have been attempts to develop predictive modelling in Europe and the US, these have tended to rely on dedicated surveys. The innovative aspect of this proposal is that it uses existing data as well as providing a dynamic means of integrating new data as it comes to light.

The purpose of the tool will be to predict and characterise the archaeology of a given area thereby allowing a series of overlays to be produced which show the landscape and patterns of land-use at key periods in its development. Full use will be made of both positive (deposits relating explicitly to that period) and negative (the verified absences of deposits) data that starts with broad-picture perspectives but allows increasing levels of detail to be added as data-sets accumulate and new research is targeted towards specific questions and issues on the basis of predictions contained in the model.

The tool will comprise a piece of computer software. Two case-study areas in central southern England will be used to thoroughly test the tool and associated systems. Supporting documentation will be assembled and its usefulness evaluated. As a preliminary, an in-depth investigation of modern HER data will be carried out to clarify the rationale for its collected, test its accuracy, and match it with observational results from field evaluations. To validate the theoretical underpinnings and methodology, selected data-sets will be time-sliced in terms of their creation as archaeological records so that the model can be run iteratively to see how the predictions from

One of the biggest issues facing archaeology at present is the need to integrate and synthesise large amounts of diverse archaeological data which have been collected through a wide range of interventions including: research excavations and surveys; development-led work investigations (pre- and post-determination); area- or technique-specific surveys; and public involvement in the reporting of finds through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Such integration and synthesis is essential if the value of this data (the collection and curation of which has involved the expenditure of hundreds of millions of pounds) is to be fully realised. Because of the volume of the data, systematic and, ideally, semi-automated methods for integration and synthesis are urgently required. It is also recognized that in times of diminished resources for archaeological work in both the public and private sectors there is a very real and urgent need to target future work towards areas and problems where it is likely to be most effective. This strategic aspect of research planning is currently poorly underpinned in terms of large-scale resource assessments and dynamic mapping tools that can integrate data with other sectors of the spatial planning system such as landscape characterization and infrastructure development.

MAID in England will directly benefit both archaeological researchers and those (incuding private- and public-sector developers of land) who are involved with the conservation and investigation of the archaeological heritage. It may also bring benefits for the interested general public.

Archaeological researchers stand to benefit greatly, because establishing the required methods will mean that very large amounts of 'raw' archaeological information will be rendered far more readily useable, allowing researchers to work with and utilise this information in exploring important questions about the past (such as the expansion and contraction of human settlement in parts of the landscape through time).

Those concerned with managing the archaeological heritage will benefit because better synthesis of existing information will improve overall understanding of the archaeological resource (by giving a better overview of it). This will allow more firmly-based management decisions to be made; decisions which can take a strategic, rather than (as at present) a site-by-site approach. This could lead, among other things, to better focussed archaeological investigations in the future, with potentially significant financial savings through not collecting redundant or repetitive information. In short, this research will make a major contribution to the implementation of the new Government guidance, PPS 5: Planning for the Historic Environment, published in spring 2010.

There will be three main means of ensuring that potential beneficiaries are able to engage with this research. First, as English Heritage is the collaborating non-HEI, the government's statutory adviser on heritage will be directly involved in the work. Second, two case studies based on work in established HERs will allow MAID to work closely with local authority archaeological services, giving a direct link into that overall sphere of activity. Third, one or more professional seminars or workshops (involving both academics and heritage managers) will be held during the course of the programme, to raise awareness of the work, to engage with potential beneficiaries, and to ensure that their views of the usefulness of the work are captured while the work is still in progress.