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News & Updates

news | archived news | updates

Week ending Friday 28th July 2006.

The Flasks - Sink Holes

Sink holes are natural features which form when underlying deposits of gypsum are dissolved and collapse deep underground causing the ground to drop at the surface. Where these occur in wet areas they often provide an ideal environment where peat can form and in which pollen from surrounding vegetation can become trapped. Sink holes which were formed thousands of years ago can therefore contain important information about the surrounding vegetation and landscape. Where sink holes occur adjacent to human activity, they become even more important.

Following their initial investigation (see archived news, 16th December 2005) it was decided to assess the potential of each sink hole prior to further excavation. Organic material form the top layer of peat from each sink hole was recovered and sent for carbon dating. This was undertaken to identify which, if any, of the features contained peat and pollen from a time when people were known to be present in the area. The dating results indicated that two of the sink holes (F4 and F8) had a high potential to yield information on the local environment during the prehistoric and beyond.

Under the direction of Durham University, core samples of the peat were taken for each sink hole. The peat in F4 proved to be 1.5m deep, while that core taken from F8 proved to be 4.5m in length.

Once the core samples were secure, both of the sink holes were excavated in section so that the profile of the peat deposits could be photographed and drawn. This was undertaken in order to establish exactly how the peat had formed and ensure that any later disturbance or collapse that could bias the results of further analysis could be identified at this stage.

The full profile of the smaller sink hole F4 was excavated and recorded. The section is shown in Figure 1. Unfortunately, due to the level of the water table, only the first two metres of the F8 was able to be excavated and recorded in this way, illustrated in Figure 2.

Monolith tins were used to recover additional samples of peat where appropriate.

The samples are currently being stored at Durham University pending further assessment and study. It is hoped that they will add greatly to our understanding of the vegetational history of the area.

Figure 1, Section through F4

Figure 2, Section through F8

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