Project Panormos: An Introduction to Survey Methods

Extensive methods

1. Revisiting known locations

   • Confirm the Lohmann’s ‘map’ of architectural and other finds which could be of interest for future intensive survey or excavation
   • Get a ‘feeling’ for the landscape and moving around it
   • Review what has happened to the site since it was identified in the earlier survey

   

2. New extensive reconnaissance:

   • Get a ‘feeling’ for the landscape and moving around it
   • Identify ancient nodes in the landscape and follow information from informants
   • Identify/confirm areas to tract walk (for intensive methods)
   • Use Remote sensing (satellite images) to help identify areas of interest

   

3. Exploring the Sacred wWy:

   • Examine the potential alternative routes of the ‘sacred way’

   

Intensive methods

Tract or Fieldwalking

Tract or fieldwalking aims: - Measure the density of surface finds (pottery, lithics, other) over a small area - Create a ‘map’ of these densities to identify nodes of occupation (settlements) - Identify small architectural and other features otherwise not recognizable in extensive surveys - Get a ‘feeling’ for the landscape and moving around in it

Standard (linear) tract specifics

• Each standard linear tract is a maximum size of:

  • 50 x 50 metres (or 50 x 75m)

  

• The starting (and end) corners are defined by the:

  • Tract Leader
  • and/or a Tract Assistant
  • Flagging tape used where appropriate to mark corners

  

• A GPS is used to find or define corners of tract

• Tracts normally will have:

  • 5 (field)walkers who will normally start each tract spaced evenly along the tract base line
  • Spacing between walkers will be 10m or 15m (to be decided)
  • e.g. 15m is appropriate for 4 walkers

Tract walking procedure

For each tract: Communication along the walker line is very important to send messages from one end to another and so that everyone knows what is happening.

1. Each fieldwalker will walk up to 50m forward in a straight line (or until the Tract Leader/Assistant says stop)

1. A photograph should be made by the team photographer at the beginning / end / middle of the tract, noting location on photo notebook

2. Each fieldwalker will

   • Count sherds seen using a hand tally =>
   • Pick up Diagnostic Sherds
   • Pick up all lithics
   • Pick up all small-finds
   • Note the presence of other archaeological features (wells, walls etc)
   • Note the ground Visibility, i.e. how much of the surface can be seen while walking (0-100%)

3. At the end of the tract

   • The Tract Leader or recorder will ask walkers to report their finds and will note them or enter them into the data logger
     
   • Walkers should record their counts in their own notebooks and should place picked finds into find bags with a label noting the Tract no. (ask Team Leader) and some other details

Tract maps

The team leader will have a printed or electronic satellite map like the one below to help plan the tract walking. Once walked, s/he will draw on the shape of the tract with the Tract No.

The team leader/tract assistant will also use a GPS/data logger to find the corners of pre-planned tract squares (and mark them in with flagging tape), known as guide points and guide grid.

=> Cumulatively, each team will build up a record of ground coverage.

It is important to record areas where NO FINDS are found as well as where there are sherd concentrations or other archaeological features.

Irregular and grab tracts

Irregular tracts. Not all tracts can or should be a regular 50x50m, e.g.

• to follow field boundaries or contours
• to start/end before a significant boundary/road
• to divide areas of different visibility

Irregular tracts should not normally be larger than 50 x 50m, but can be any shape.

• They will be drawn on the Field Tract Map by the Team Leader
• Often, fewer than 5 walkers will need to walk an irregular tract

Grab tracts. In some cases, it will not make sense for walkers to walk in a straight-line at all.

• (e.g. in very small or irregular tract areas)

In these cases, tracts are described as ‘grab’ tracts (as opposed to standard ‘linear’ tracts)

• The aim of grab tracts is to show that an area has been inspected even if not suitable to record ‘systematically’ for whatever reason

Non-walkable (nw) tracts. Some areas are not possible to walk as real Tract

These areas should also be marked on the map as ‘non-walkable’ tracts, in order to show later why certain areas could not be walked:

• No access (private land, fenced off, military)
• Danger to team (wild animals/dogs)
• No surface (road/building/concrete)
• A note should be made as to whether this is an area that should be revisited in the future (if access conditions change).

Coverage

How big an area can be covered in 3 weeks?

• A lot depends a lot on the terrain, on the speed of the team and on how many obstacles there are.
• As an example: based on previous surveys using similar techniques, it is possible that in 3 weeks, with two teams of 5, a total of around 230-250 tracts can be walked.
• This equates to around 57-60 ha.

Diagnostics

What makes a sherd diagnostic?

• Whole pots (rather rare on surface survey!)
• Rim, base or handle
• Decoration (paint, burnish, incision)

Why are ‘diagnostic’ sherds important?

• Because they can be compared with already dated shapes and so can more quickly and easily can provide a date for the sherd and hence associated occupation.

Visibility

What is 'visibility’?

• It is a relative measure of how much of the ground surface you can see in a tract.
• Visibility mostly depends on the vegetation: thick vegetation (e.g. dense grass) often provides next to 0% ground visibility
• On the Panormos survey project, visibility is given as a value from 1-100%

Why is visibility important?

• Because it allows us to adjust statistically the raw count of finds on the surface on the basis of how likely that the walker was actually able to see something.
• For example 3 sherds seen in an area with next to 1% visibility is likely to have hidden a much higher true density of sherds than 3 sherd found in an area with 100% visibility.