EDO8318 - Higher Houghton Aerial Investigation and Mapping Project 2025

OASIS: Project Methodology: The survey involved the mapping and recording of all archaeological features identified in aerial photographs and Lidar visualisation,s to Historic England Aerial Investigation and Mapping standards. Sources used include Historic England’s collection of aerial photographs, historic maps, Environment Agency lidar at 1m resolution and APGB aerial photographs. Dorset HER records, Historic England Research Records, the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) and published secondary sources have been consulted to assist the interpretation of mapped features. Project Results: All archaeological features identified in aerial photographs and Lidar visualisations of the project area were mapped, the earliest being a number of probable Bronze Age barrows. Substantial Iron Age/Romano British field systems and settlement sites form perhaps the most extensive archaeological features in the project area. Two medieval deer parks are also significant aspects of past land management here, along with some evidence for medieval cultivation practices in the form of lynchets and some fields of ridge and furrow. Probably later social and economic activities are represented by a small warren and numerous extractive pits, some large enough to be described as quarries.