Site Event/Activity record ECH1936 - North West Wetlands Survey - Cheshire

Archaeological and paleoecological studies were undertaken on and around the varied wetlands (mosses, mires, meres, basins, flood plains, peat soils) of Cheshire, specifically those located in the Cheshire Plain and Mid-Cheshire Ridge, during the winters of 1993/4 and 1994/5. This work formed part of a wider project investigating the wetlands of the North West which are subject to an increasing threat of survival. The discovery of Lindow Man in 1984 was one of the catalysts for the inception of the North West Wetland Survey. The study comprised desk-based research, an extensive programme of field survey and a programme of palaeolecological sampling targeted at sites covering a wide geographical spread. Detailed palaeoecological study was limited to areas of particular archaeological significance, such as charcoal layers in peat or severly threatened sites, including Holcroft Moss, Rixton/Risley/Woolstone Mosses, Lindow Moss, Danes Moss and Walker's Heath. Radiocarbon dating was applied to significant bio-stratigraphical boundaries, where this aided the interpretation of events preserved in the peat archive, and to selective, significant organic artefacts. Limited quantities of finds were recovered through the field survey including lithic material and pottery sherds ranging from Roman to early post medieval date. (see ECH2748) (1) The paper archive produced during the North West Wetlands project is now digitised and recorded as below:- SCH3260a - Site Recording Forms (gazeteer of recovered finds and surveyed archaeological sites) SCH3260b - Farm Record Sheets (notes on land-use and field conditions on individual farms) SCH3260c - Moss Documentary Records (gazeteer of Moss place names) SCH3260d - Mark Leah Notes Published Volume:- SCH3260 - North West Wetlands Survey 4: The Wetlands of Cheshire (1997). Authors:- M.D.Leah, C.E.Wells, C.Appleby, E.Huckerby. ISBN 1-86220-007-6