Landform rendering showing higher raised beaches in West Sussex. (Produced using Surfer 32)
The Boxgrove site is of international significance for the study
of archaeology, geology and palaeoecology in the Middle
Pleistocene. However, the east-west extent of the sediments
of the Slindon and Eartham Formations that preserve this
data is unknown. Landform survey and boreholing suggest
that these deposits may be widely distributed. Thus, the
detailed mapping of these sediments is an essential first step
for future Quaternary research in this region.
Thanks to continued funding and support from English Heritage,
a two year surveying and mapping project is being undertaken
up by the Boxgrove Project team. Its aims are to delinate the
surving extent of the sediments and identify archaeologically
sensitive deposits similar to those originally investigated at the
Boxgrove site. The project will therefore provide a detailed
record of the Pleistocene geology of the higher coastal
plain in West Sussex.
Detailed mapping of the extent of the geological formations is
necessary so that informed decisions may be made as part of
the planning process, especially where aggregate extraction is
envisaged. Similarly, mapping of the buried Pleistocene
landscape is also desirable to afford protection to the
sediments, perhaps in the form of designation as a World
Heritage Site.
Five separate study areas between Worthing and Havant
have been individually examined during the course of the
project. Fieldwork, in the form of boreholes, test pitting,
electrical tomography, is being targetted at critical areas
of the palaeolandscape (see our Methods Page for more
details). This work is providing new datasets in the form
of detailed logging of lateral sediment variation and
palaeoenvironmental samples. Examples are given on our