By river, fields and factories: the making of the Lower Lea Valley – archaeological and cultural heritage investigations on the site of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Section 1: Palaeo-environmental

Abstract

The announcement in July 2005 that London had won the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was the catalyst for a comprehensive programme of archaeological excavation, building recording and photographic survey undertaken on the site of the Olympic Park. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has facilitated a rare opportunity to study and understand the evolution of a large area of valley landscape on the eastern fringes of London, before the construction of the main Olympic Stadium, numerous other venues and the necessary transport network throughout the Olympic Park.

Important evidence for landscape evolution from the pre-Holocene onwards was obtained from extensive study of cores from over 4,000 boreholes, enabling a deposit model of the sub-surface sediments to be created. The surface topography has been mapped and the courses of the major palaeochannels identified, as well as probable areas of wetland and higher, drier areas suitable for occupation. This work has been undertaken in conjunction with an extensive programme of radiocarbon dating and palaeoenvironmental analysis.

Archaeological finds include a Neolithic axe found beside a channel, the remnants of Bronze Age field systems and settlements, and Iron Age settlements with roundhouses, pits and associated structures. Limited archaeological evidence for Roman, Saxon and medieval occupation of this floodplain environment was uncovered but environmental data indicate activity in the wider landscape during these periods. One of the largest finds was a near-complete 19th century wooden boat which amongst other uses had been employed as a fowling vessel; bird shot was found during the excavation and cleaning of the boat.

The excavations revealed a cobbled Victorian street and buildings, and associated industrial features, that had been buried under several metres of made ground. In fact, a dominant archaeological feature from the site is the deep made-ground, averaging c. 4.5 m thick, that overlay the former agricultural landscape, both to consolidate the ground for the construction of factories and to raise its levels above the floodwaters of the, by now, wholly canalised and controlled channels of the River Lea. Preliminary examination of these deposits, which were encountered in almost all of the archaeological trenches, indicates a substantial quantity of material was deposited on the site from the 19th century onwards.

This represents the detailed palaeoenvironmental specialist reports, summaries of which are available in the published report (A.B. Powell (2012) By River, Fields and Factories: The Making of the Lower Lea Valley – archaeological and cultural heritage investigations on the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Wessex Archeology report 29).

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ORCID for Michael J. Grant: orcid.org/0000-0002-4766-6913

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