Rob Scaife
Biographic Data
| ID | 1072700 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rob Scaife |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rob |
| FAMILY NAME | Scaife |
| SIGNATURE | SCAIFE R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southampton |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3495-6743 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Corfe Before, During and After the Castle
Multi-analytical research on the western edge of Corfe Castle, Dorset, enabled a reconstruction of the late Holocene landscape and land use from the Early Bronze Age to the present day. Initially, the small tributary of the Corfe River had a low sedimentation rate with scrub-woodland margins, but from the early historic period, herbaceous diversity increased alongside a decrease in woodland. From the mid-8th century CE, acceleration of sedimentat…
A multi-period riverine landscape narrative of the Ure Valley north of the Roman town of Aldborough ( Isurium Brigantum )
Geoarchaeological survey and palaeoenvironmental analyses were conducted in the floodplain of the river Ure to the north of the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough, North Yorkshire) as part of a complementary campaign of geophysical survey and excavations (2018–2024). This involved an intensive coring survey to understand the development of the valley and the environmental context of the settlement. A large palaeochannel was discovered so…
The River That Swallowed the Ringwood Prehistoric Landscape
In March 2022, two geoarchaeological boreholes were drilled within the Avon Valley at the site of Jubilee Gardens, Ringwood, Hampshire. The works were commissioned from Connect Archaeology by VolkerFitzpatrick on behalf of their client, National Highways, as part of the A31 road widening and junction improvement works. One sequence was selected for palaeoenvironmental analysis and radiocarbon dating, aiming to provide evidence for landscape devel…
The Alluvial Geoarchaeology of the Upper River Kennet in the Avebury Landscape
Geoarchaeological research as part of the AHRC funded Living with Monuments (LwM) project investigated the upper Kennet river system across the Avebury World Heritage landscape. The results demonstrate that in the early–mid-Holocene ( c. 9500–1000 bc ) there was very low erosion of disturbed soils into the floodplain, with floodplain deposits confined to a naturally forming bedload fluvial deposit aggrading in a shallow channel of inter-linked de…
Early to Middle Bronze Age agricultural terraces in north-east England
Terracing is found widely in the Mediterranean and in other hilly and mountainous regions of the world. Yet while archaeological attention to these 'mundane' landscape features has grown, they remain understudied, particularly in Northern Europe. Here, the authors present a multidisciplinary study of terraces in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland. The results date their construction to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, when they were built by cutt…
Pre-Hispanic anthropogenic wetlands in the upper Ica drainage, south-central Andes
Humans have engineered their environments throughout the Holocene, especially in the construction of hydraulic infrastructure. In many regions, however, this infrastructure is difficult to date, including the vestiges of water-management systems in the Andean highlands. Focusing on silt reservoirs in the upper Ica drainage, Peru, the authors use cores and radiocarbon dates to demonstrate the pre-Hispanic construction of walls to enhance and expan…
Modelling Vegetation Cover and Wetland Expansion in the Lower Thames Valley, UK
The interaction of ‘natural’ environmental processes and human activity in shaping landscapes is vividly illustrated in the Lower Thames Valley, UK. Through development-led (geo)archaeological investigations, intensifying redevelopment of this (currently) industrial landscape presents opportunities to gain long-term perspectives on these processes and to investigate the timing and extent of human impact on the environment in the past. This paper …
Modelling Prehistoric Topography and Vegetation in the Lower Thames Valley, UK
Multi-proxy investigations at 2 Pier Road, North Woolwich, London, UK, have revealed deposits spanning the Middle-Late Holocene from the late Mesolithic (c. 4360 cal BC) onwards. Pollen data show an Elm Decline at c. 4210–3950 cal BC followed by landnám clearances at c. 4210–3910 cal BC and c. 3710–3030 cal BC and the first appearance of cereal at c. 3540–3030 cal BC. These events are potentially contemporary with the construction of nearby Neoli…
Soil Pollen Analyses in Environmental Archaeology
Dimbleby, Geoffrey W.
Analysis of a brown earth palaeosol and derived sediments associated with a Mesolithic pit, a Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age burnt mound and an Early Bronze Age burnt mound on Exmoor, UK
Analysis of prehistoric brown earth paleosols under the podzol soils of Exmoor, UK
The deforestation of the upland landscapes in southwest Britain during prehistory is an established archaeological narrative, documenting human impacts on the environment and questioning the relationship of prehistoric societies to the upland landscapes they inhabited. Allied to the paleoenvironmental analyses of pollen sequences, which have provided the evidence of this change, there has been some investigation of prehistoric paleosols fossilize…
Finding Alcatrazes and early Luso-African settlement on Santiago Island, Cape Verde
After the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in AD 1456 they divided its main island, Santiago, into two governing captaincies. The founding settlement in the south-west, Cidade Velha, soon became the Islands' capital and a thriving trade centre; in contrast, that in the east, Alcatrazes, only lasted as an official seat from 1484-1516 and is held to have 'failed' (see Richter 2015
Plant macrofossil remains
Durrington Walls to West Amesbury by way of Stonehenge
A new sequence of Holocene landscape change has been discovered through an investigation of sediment sequences, palaeosols, pollen and molluscan data discovered during the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The early post-glacial vegetational succession in the Avon valley at Durrington Walls was apparently slow and partial, with intermittent woodland modification and the opening-up of this landscape in the later Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic, thoug…
Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction from Sediments at West Quay Road, Southampton
This detailed study of a 13m deep borehole from West Quay Road, Southampton documents estuary evolution over the Holocene in a locality which has received little attention in the literature. The work was undertaken by the Museum of London Archaeology Service Geoarchaeology department. The sediment sequence along with evidence from pollen, plant macrofossils, diatoms, ostracods, snails and radiocarbon dating shows the gradual drowning of the valle…
New perspectives on Holocene landscape development in the southern English chalklands
A combination of on‐ and off‐site paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations of the upper Allen valley of Dorset, conducted from 1998–2002, has begun to indicate a different model of prehistoric landscape development to those previously put forward for this part of the southern English chalk downlands. Woodland growth in the earlier Holocene appears to have been slower and patchier than the presumed model of full climax deciduous woodla…
Archaeology and Environment of a Bronze Age Cairn and Prehistoric and Romano-British Field System at Chysauster, Gulval, near Penzance, Cornwall
The project involved the survey and selective excavation of an area of field system adjoining the Romano-British ‘courtyard house’ settlement of Chysauster, near Penzance, Cornwall, supported by soil and pollen studies and by the extensive landscape surveys. The excavation had two main elements: study of the rectilinear field system and excavation of a Bronze Age funerary cairn incorporated in one of the field boundaries. The earliest field syste…
Excavations of a Mesolithic Site at Thatcham, Berkshire
Excavations were undertaken in advance of construction work at Newbury Sewage Treatment Works on the outskirts of Thatcham in Berkshire, close to the sites of previous excavations undertaken by Wymer and by Peake and Crawford. Worked flint of Mesolithic date was recovered from a sandy layer overlying river gravel in two distinct concentrations suggesting two distinct episodes. Use wear analysis of the flint suggests that the sites were used as ho…
Flag Fen
The discovery of the timber platform in fen peat poses a number of questions relating to the local ecology and environment in which the structure was constructed and the character of local land use and economic subsistence. Pollen and plant macro-fossil studies were initiated at the outset of discovery of the Flag Fen structure. Special attention has been paid to the changing fen flora reflecting local hydrological changes as well as evidence for…
Excavations of a Mesolithic Site at Thatcham, Berkshire
Excavations were undertaken in advance of construction work at Newbury Sewage Treatment Works on the outskirts of Thatcham in Berkshire, close to the sites of previous excavations undertaken by Wymer and by Peake and Crawford. Worked flint of Mesolithic date was recovered from a sandy layer overlying river gravel in two distinct concentrations suggesting two distinct episodes. Use wear analysis of the flint suggests that the sites were used as ho…
Finding Alcatrazes and early Luso-African settlement on Santiago Island, Cape Verde
After the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in AD 1456 they divided its main island, Santiago, into two governing captaincies. The founding settlement in the south-west, Cidade Velha, soon became the Islands' capital and a thriving trade centre; in contrast, that in the east, Alcatrazes, only lasted as an official seat from 1484-1516 and is held to have 'failed' (see Richter 2015
New perspectives on Holocene landscape development in the southern English chalklands
A combination of on‐ and off‐site paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations of the upper Allen valley of Dorset, conducted from 1998–2002, has begun to indicate a different model of prehistoric landscape development to those previously put forward for this part of the southern English chalk downlands. Woodland growth in the earlier Holocene appears to have been slower and patchier than the presumed model of full climax deciduous woodla…
Durrington Walls to West Amesbury by way of Stonehenge
A new sequence of Holocene landscape change has been discovered through an investigation of sediment sequences, palaeosols, pollen and molluscan data discovered during the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The early post-glacial vegetational succession in the Avon valley at Durrington Walls was apparently slow and partial, with intermittent woodland modification and the opening-up of this landscape in the later Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic, thoug…
Archaeology and Environment of a Bronze Age Cairn and Prehistoric and Romano-British Field System at Chysauster, Gulval, near Penzance, Cornwall
The project involved the survey and selective excavation of an area of field system adjoining the Romano-British ‘courtyard house’ settlement of Chysauster, near Penzance, Cornwall, supported by soil and pollen studies and by the extensive landscape surveys. The excavation had two main elements: study of the rectilinear field system and excavation of a Bronze Age funerary cairn incorporated in one of the field boundaries. The earliest field syste…
Pre-Hispanic anthropogenic wetlands in the upper Ica drainage, south-central Andes
Humans have engineered their environments throughout the Holocene, especially in the construction of hydraulic infrastructure. In many regions, however, this infrastructure is difficult to date, including the vestiges of water-management systems in the Andean highlands. Focusing on silt reservoirs in the upper Ica drainage, Peru, the authors use cores and radiocarbon dates to demonstrate the pre-Hispanic construction of walls to enhance and expan…
Analysis of prehistoric brown earth paleosols under the podzol soils of Exmoor, UK
The deforestation of the upland landscapes in southwest Britain during prehistory is an established archaeological narrative, documenting human impacts on the environment and questioning the relationship of prehistoric societies to the upland landscapes they inhabited. Allied to the paleoenvironmental analyses of pollen sequences, which have provided the evidence of this change, there has been some investigation of prehistoric paleosols fossilize…
The Alluvial Geoarchaeology of the Upper River Kennet in the Avebury Landscape
Geoarchaeological research as part of the AHRC funded Living with Monuments (LwM) project investigated the upper Kennet river system across the Avebury World Heritage landscape. The results demonstrate that in the early–mid-Holocene ( c. 9500–1000 bc ) there was very low erosion of disturbed soils into the floodplain, with floodplain deposits confined to a naturally forming bedload fluvial deposit aggrading in a shallow channel of inter-linked de…
Early to Middle Bronze Age agricultural terraces in north-east England
Terracing is found widely in the Mediterranean and in other hilly and mountainous regions of the world. Yet while archaeological attention to these 'mundane' landscape features has grown, they remain understudied, particularly in Northern Europe. Here, the authors present a multidisciplinary study of terraces in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland. The results date their construction to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, when they were built by cutt…
Excavations of a Mesolithic Site at Thatcham, Berkshire
Excavations were undertaken in advance of construction work at Newbury Sewage Treatment Works on the outskirts of Thatcham in Berkshire, close to the sites of previous excavations undertaken by Wymer and by Peake and Crawford. Worked flint of Mesolithic date was recovered from a sandy layer overlying river gravel in two distinct concentrations suggesting two distinct episodes. Use wear analysis of the flint suggests that the sites were used as ho…
Flag Fen
The discovery of the timber platform in fen peat poses a number of questions relating to the local ecology and environment in which the structure was constructed and the character of local land use and economic subsistence. Pollen and plant macro-fossil studies were initiated at the outset of discovery of the Flag Fen structure. Special attention has been paid to the changing fen flora reflecting local hydrological changes as well as evidence for…
Archaeology and Environment of a Bronze Age Cairn and Prehistoric and Romano-British Field System at Chysauster, Gulval, near Penzance, Cornwall
The project involved the survey and selective excavation of an area of field system adjoining the Romano-British ‘courtyard house’ settlement of Chysauster, near Penzance, Cornwall, supported by soil and pollen studies and by the extensive landscape surveys. The excavation had two main elements: study of the rectilinear field system and excavation of a Bronze Age funerary cairn incorporated in one of the field boundaries. The earliest field syste…
New perspectives on Holocene landscape development in the southern English chalklands
A combination of on‐ and off‐site paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations of the upper Allen valley of Dorset, conducted from 1998–2002, has begun to indicate a different model of prehistoric landscape development to those previously put forward for this part of the southern English chalk downlands. Woodland growth in the earlier Holocene appears to have been slower and patchier than the presumed model of full climax deciduous woodla…
Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction from Sediments at West Quay Road, Southampton
This detailed study of a 13m deep borehole from West Quay Road, Southampton documents estuary evolution over the Holocene in a locality which has received little attention in the literature. The work was undertaken by the Museum of London Archaeology Service Geoarchaeology department. The sediment sequence along with evidence from pollen, plant macrofossils, diatoms, ostracods, snails and radiocarbon dating shows the gradual drowning of the valle…
Durrington Walls to West Amesbury by way of Stonehenge
A new sequence of Holocene landscape change has been discovered through an investigation of sediment sequences, palaeosols, pollen and molluscan data discovered during the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The early post-glacial vegetational succession in the Avon valley at Durrington Walls was apparently slow and partial, with intermittent woodland modification and the opening-up of this landscape in the later Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic, thoug…
Plant macrofossil remains
Finding Alcatrazes and early Luso-African settlement on Santiago Island, Cape Verde
After the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in AD 1456 they divided its main island, Santiago, into two governing captaincies. The founding settlement in the south-west, Cidade Velha, soon became the Islands' capital and a thriving trade centre; in contrast, that in the east, Alcatrazes, only lasted as an official seat from 1484-1516 and is held to have 'failed' (see Richter 2015
Soil Pollen Analyses in Environmental Archaeology
Dimbleby, Geoffrey W.
Analysis of a brown earth palaeosol and derived sediments associated with a Mesolithic pit, a Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age burnt mound and an Early Bronze Age burnt mound on Exmoor, UK
Analysis of prehistoric brown earth paleosols under the podzol soils of Exmoor, UK
The deforestation of the upland landscapes in southwest Britain during prehistory is an established archaeological narrative, documenting human impacts on the environment and questioning the relationship of prehistoric societies to the upland landscapes they inhabited. Allied to the paleoenvironmental analyses of pollen sequences, which have provided the evidence of this change, there has been some investigation of prehistoric paleosols fossilize…
Modelling Vegetation Cover and Wetland Expansion in the Lower Thames Valley, UK
The interaction of ‘natural’ environmental processes and human activity in shaping landscapes is vividly illustrated in the Lower Thames Valley, UK. Through development-led (geo)archaeological investigations, intensifying redevelopment of this (currently) industrial landscape presents opportunities to gain long-term perspectives on these processes and to investigate the timing and extent of human impact on the environment in the past. This paper …
Modelling Prehistoric Topography and Vegetation in the Lower Thames Valley, UK
Multi-proxy investigations at 2 Pier Road, North Woolwich, London, UK, have revealed deposits spanning the Middle-Late Holocene from the late Mesolithic (c. 4360 cal BC) onwards. Pollen data show an Elm Decline at c. 4210–3950 cal BC followed by landnám clearances at c. 4210–3910 cal BC and c. 3710–3030 cal BC and the first appearance of cereal at c. 3540–3030 cal BC. These events are potentially contemporary with the construction of nearby Neoli…
Pre-Hispanic anthropogenic wetlands in the upper Ica drainage, south-central Andes
Humans have engineered their environments throughout the Holocene, especially in the construction of hydraulic infrastructure. In many regions, however, this infrastructure is difficult to date, including the vestiges of water-management systems in the Andean highlands. Focusing on silt reservoirs in the upper Ica drainage, Peru, the authors use cores and radiocarbon dates to demonstrate the pre-Hispanic construction of walls to enhance and expan…
Early to Middle Bronze Age agricultural terraces in north-east England
Terracing is found widely in the Mediterranean and in other hilly and mountainous regions of the world. Yet while archaeological attention to these 'mundane' landscape features has grown, they remain understudied, particularly in Northern Europe. Here, the authors present a multidisciplinary study of terraces in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland. The results date their construction to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, when they were built by cutt…
The Alluvial Geoarchaeology of the Upper River Kennet in the Avebury Landscape
Geoarchaeological research as part of the AHRC funded Living with Monuments (LwM) project investigated the upper Kennet river system across the Avebury World Heritage landscape. The results demonstrate that in the early–mid-Holocene ( c. 9500–1000 bc ) there was very low erosion of disturbed soils into the floodplain, with floodplain deposits confined to a naturally forming bedload fluvial deposit aggrading in a shallow channel of inter-linked de…
The River That Swallowed the Ringwood Prehistoric Landscape
In March 2022, two geoarchaeological boreholes were drilled within the Avon Valley at the site of Jubilee Gardens, Ringwood, Hampshire. The works were commissioned from Connect Archaeology by VolkerFitzpatrick on behalf of their client, National Highways, as part of the A31 road widening and junction improvement works. One sequence was selected for palaeoenvironmental analysis and radiocarbon dating, aiming to provide evidence for landscape devel…
Corfe Before, During and After the Castle
Multi-analytical research on the western edge of Corfe Castle, Dorset, enabled a reconstruction of the late Holocene landscape and land use from the Early Bronze Age to the present day. Initially, the small tributary of the Corfe River had a low sedimentation rate with scrub-woodland margins, but from the early historic period, herbaceous diversity increased alongside a decrease in woodland. From the mid-8th century CE, acceleration of sedimentat…
A multi-period riverine landscape narrative of the Ure Valley north of the Roman town of Aldborough ( Isurium Brigantum )
Geoarchaeological survey and palaeoenvironmental analyses were conducted in the floodplain of the river Ure to the north of the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough, North Yorkshire) as part of a complementary campaign of geophysical survey and excavations (2018–2024). This involved an intensive coring survey to understand the development of the valley and the environmental context of the settlement. A large palaeochannel was discovered so…
Archaeology (16 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (16 works) · Geography (16 works) · Geology (12 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (12 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (11 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Holocene (9 works) · Geology (7 works) · Bronze Age (6 works)