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Land at Bewcastle, Cumbria: Preliminary Ground Penetrating Radar Surveys [dataset] Open Access

Two survey areas were targetted using a Malå GeoScience Ramac X3M with a 500MHz antenna, and two further individual profiles were targetted using a PulseEkko Pro with a 200MHz antenna. Field 1 (see Figure 1) targetted the area indicated as containing the fort bath house (Taylor and Biggins, 2012). Poor data quality produced by the Malå in Field 1 was primarily as a result of uneven ground conditions and steep topography. Nonetheless, some linear and rectilinear features were identified, including overlying the indicative location of the fort bath house and previously unknown structures further to the south and on a different alignment. The PulseEkko was not deployed in Field 1 due to multiple overhead cables and a drystone wall which would have interfered the data due to the unshielded nature of the antennae. In Field 2 the data quality of the Malå is somewhat improved, due to better ground conditions and flatter topography. The PulseEkko was also deployed along two transects. Several features were identified using the Malå some of which are identifiable on the existing LiDAR. These features could be associated with either the Roman or Medieval occupation of the site; additional survey providing wider context would be necessary to make such distinctions. The PulseEkko was also deployed in Field 2 along two orthogonal lines. These surveys produced much higher data quality than the Malå and due to the lower frequency also provided greater depth penetration. The PulseEkko revealed evidence of several strong, laminated reflectors and multiple diffraction hyperbolae set in a complex stratigraphic sequence. The use of GPR at Bewcastle is confirmed as a productive method for future investigation of the Site with evidently conducive ground conditions. Preliminary survey has already identified several previously unknown features in both of the targetted fields, even in Field 1 where topography made the survey challenging. In addition to presentation of the results, some recommendations are made for future surveys which would mitigate some of the issues encountered during the pilot survey.

Descriptions

Resource type

Dataset

Contributors

Creator: Bithell, Sam ¹
Contact person: Bithell, Sam ¹
Data collector: Bithell, Sam ¹
Data curator: Bithell, Sam ¹
Editor: Bithell, Sam ¹
Contact person: Cousins, Eleri ¹
Data collector: Cousins, Eleri ¹
Data curator: Cousins, Eleri ¹
Editor: Cousins, Eleri ¹

¹ Durham University, United Kingdom

Funder

Durham University

Research methods

Ground Penetrating Radar

Other description

Keyword

GPR
Roman archaeology
Bathhouses
Bewcastle

Subject

Ground penetrating radar
Baths, Roman
Archaeology

Location

Bewcastle Castle, England, United Kingdom

Language

English

Cited in

Identifier

ark:/32150/r28910jt69k
doi:10.15128/r28910jt69k

Rights

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY)

Publisher

Durham University

Date Created

2025-12-12

File Details

Depositor

S.T. Bithell

Date Uploaded

12 December 2025, 15:12:51

Date Modified

12 December 2025, 16:12:15

Audit Status

Audits have not yet been run on this file.

Characterization

File format: zip (ZIP Format)

Mime type: application/zip

File size: 171188768

Last modified: 2025:12:12 15:56:36+00:00

Filename: BEWC25-DataDeposition.zip

Original checksum: 643b9cad131777f7cd6acda981f6a5fd