We are always looking to develop or refine our research methods, tools and science-based approaches. Our research includes developing innovative and smarter technologies, techniques and tools, or finding new applications for those developed elsewhere. This will enable us to do our existing research better, or to do entirely new types of research, and to do so more cost effectively.
From prehistoric earthworks to post-War concrete buildings, the materials used in the past have shaped what we now see as the historic environment. Understanding the character of these materials is an essential part of understanding past societies – how raw materials were selected, what technologies were used to extract, produce or recycle them, and how they were transformed into useable products. Research will have impact if it underpins understanding and help us better assess, interpret, manage and present our heritage. It may also lead to new marketable technologies or techniques, and will build a richer knowledge of the crafts, industries and manufacturing techniques of past societies.
Without people and an understanding of how they lived, shaped and, in turn, were shaped by their environment, historic places lose most of their meaning and value. Human health, the diseases we suffer from, the food we eat, the places we live in and the way in which our planet is changing are all part of our intimate relationship with the environment, both now and throughout our history. Environmental archaeology uses the natural sciences to investigate these complex interactions. The application of techniques such as proteomics, isotopic analysis, and next generation DNA sequencing is transforming our knowledge of past environments and the people who lived in them. Research will have impact if it delivers better ways of understanding the past environment. It could increase the value for money and costeffectiveness of archaeological investigations, providing new narratives of our shared past, and unlocking new resources for agricultural, medical and environmental research. This in turn will engage and inform people about the use of science in understanding and conserving the historic environment.
When events took place, and the development, from multiple events, of a common chronology is fundamental to our understanding of the past. The application of Bayesian statistical modelling for the interpretation of scientific dates provides timing and tempo, revealing the sequence and pace of change. This allows us to see the connections between past events, compare contemporary sites, and trace the choices people made in building and maintaining their environment. Scientific dating is a key element of our knowledge of the past, and underpins many of today’s decisions about protecting and conserving our historic environment. Research will have impact if it results in new scientific dating techniques; enhancement of existing scientific dating methods, and synthetic applications of scientific dating that explore the timing and pace of major changes in the past. Through this our knowledge of our archaeological sites and historic buildings will be significantly deepened.
To understand and manage the historic environment researchers need good, up-to-date information about the location, extent and shape of heritage assets. Cutting-edge approaches for aerial investigation, geophysical survey, remote sensing, geospatial measurement and 3D image and data capture offer new ways to obtain this.
We are interested in the practical cost-effective use of technologies, such as: visible and nonvisible spectrum imaging – across the full multi, hyperspectral and electromagnetic spectrum; range based sensors – using laser, structured light or other electromagnetic radiation bands for point based measurement and sensing; image based measurement including photogrammetry and ‘structure-from-motion’ technologies; drones as survey platforms; Building Information Modelling (BIM); remote monitoring solutions for active and passive monitoring of changes to historic fabric through time.
Research will inform the choice of the best approaches to work at a wide range of scales from whole landscapes, to individual sites, or single artefacts, and across wetland, marine and both above and below ground. It could make the cutting-edge commonplace and support better and cost-effective integration of new measurement and sensing technologies into existing heritage management practice.
Part of the Research Frameworks Network