All Along the Watchtowers!
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-10-22

All Along the Watchtowers! Balancing Heritage Protection and Development of Castle Sites with Scientific Research Potential of Buried Archaeology

Successive waves of conquest and colonisation throughout the Middle Ages have shaped society and the cultural geography of modern Europe. Castles and their remains are iconic remnants from that period, and as such form an important part of our cultural heritage. Across Europe, only recently is the scientific potential of the buried archaeological deposits within castles being realised, which can be overlooked in favour of the protection and consolidation of standing remains, and developments such as reconstruction and rebuilding projects. This paper reviews the state of archaeological remains within medieval castle sites across Europe (Estonia, France, Latvia, Poland, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands), their scientific value and potential threats to the buried archaeology based on geoarchaeological research. No standing remains survive at Karksi and Elbląg (Estonia and Poland) but both sites contained exceptionally well preserved waterlogged occupation deposits dating to the initial colonisation during Crusades. In Caen, Gien (both in France), Elbląg, and Kessel (The Netherlands), excavations were done ahead of development. They are examples of sites where different heritage perspectives had to be balanced due to development and rebuilding. In the Baltic, Dutch, French and Italian examples, micromorphology was instrumental in discovering that buried deposits contained the remains of (probably wooden) buildings from a first construction phase, or in characterising the changing use, and, following decay, the re-use occupation of structures. Molina de Aragón (Spain) is located in a UNESCO geopark. Geoarchaeological samples were collected recently from profiles created during previous excavations, which were conducted to support the architectural restoration but without a scientific focus on the medieval stratigraphy. These examples highlight the importance of a geoarchaeological perspective for both identifying and conserving cultural deposits within castles. They not only demonstrate the archaeological value of buried archaeological deposits, but also stress the threats to them due to development, rebuilding, and conservation.

Rowena Banerjea1, Hans Huisman2, Cristiano Nicosia3, Quentin Borderie4, Jesper Colenberg5, Irène Béguier6, Melinda Bizri7, Guillermo García-Contreras Ruiz8, Bénédicte Guillot9, Aleks Pluskowski1, Xavier van Dijk10, Jan van Doesburg2 1 University of Reading, UK 2 Cultural heritage agency of the Netherlands 3 CReA- Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium 4 Département d'Eure-et-Loir, CNRS - UMR 7041 ArScAn "Archéologies Environnementales", France 5 Independent, The Netherlands 6 Service départemental d'archéologie du Calvados, France 7 Université de Bourgogne / UMR 6298 ARTEHIS - "Archéologie, Terre, Histoire et Sociétés", France 8 Universidad de Granada, Spain 9 Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventitives (INRAP), France 10 RAAP, The Netherlands