From the Air to the Atomic Level of a Ditch: Integrating Geophysical and Geochemical Survey Methods at the Prehistoric Cropmark Complex of Forteviot (Perthshire, Scotland)

It is generally appreciated that the detection of archaeological features through geophysical survey can vary depending on local geological and soil conditions; however, the influence of these variables has rarely been explained satisfactorily. Presented here are the results of a comparative analysis exploring the relationship between soil chemistry and the detection of archaeological features by routine geophysical survey techniques over a cropmark site in Perthshire, Scotland. The results not only provide a nuanced understanding of the character of the archaeological features surveyed, but also begin to develop a better understanding of how the setting of a site may affect geophysical and geochemical datasets. This case study forms part of a NERC PhD project that investigates the integration of geophysical and geochemical methods at five contrasting archaeological sites in Scotland.