ALSF Aggregate Extraction and the Geoarchaeological Heritage of the Kirkham Moraine. Final Report.

This report presents the results of the ALSF Aggregate Extraction and the Geoarchaeological Heritage of the Kirkham Moraine project, which was a study of the aggregate and archaeological potential of a study are centred on the Kirkham Moraine in Lancashire (SD 430 320 (centred)). The work was undertaken between April 2007 and January 2008 as a joint project between the University of Liverpool Geography Department and Oxford Archaeology North (OA North), and was funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) under the overall management of English Heritage. The
responsibility of the project was split such that the University of Liverpool undertook the geological and geomorphological elements of the project whilst OA North undertook the archaeological elements, and the palaeobotanical elements were undertaken jointly.
The geomorphological objectives of the project were to collate evidence on all past and present aggregate extraction, and to produce revised estimations and mapping of suitable resources for future extraction. The archaeological objectives were to collate evidence for all
archaeological activity and, by the means of an exhaustive survey of LiDAR, aerial photography, field survey and other methods, find new archaeological sites and assess the
potential for sites within areas of potential extraction. The data were assimilated into a GIS system, which was integral to the project, and the archaeological data and geomorphic data were subject to spatial analysis to provide an assessment of the areas of greatest potential for
each element. A final objective was to integrate these two strands and assess the potential impact of aggregate extraction or geomorphological change on the archaeological resource.