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Papers by Richard Bates

Europe Oceans 2005, 2005

Side-scan sonar is now considered 'the instrument-of-choice' for underwater archaeological survey... more Side-scan sonar is now considered 'the instrument-of-choice' for underwater archaeological surveys. However, much work is required to understand the factors that may affect the surveyed data, including the effect of sonar resolution on the detection of objects on the seafloor and the potential confusion between the presence of recent objects on the seafloor and that of actual 'archaeological' material. To aid in addressing these issues, this paper presents an approach using scale saliency features for object detection in archaeological side-scan sonar images. Experimental results show that the techniques introduced here are capable of determining scales and saliency features for object regions. More importantly, the work is robust with respect to image intensity, scale and contrast. These factors often change in real sonar surveys due to collecting data at different depths and using different sonar parameters.

Antiquity, 2020

Around 8150 BP, the Storegga tsunami struck North-west Europe. The size of this wave has led many... more Around 8150 BP, the Storegga tsunami struck North-west Europe. The size of this wave has led many to assume that it had a devastating impact upon contemporaneous Mesolithic communities, including the final inundation of Doggerland, the now submerged Mesolithic North Sea landscape. Here, the authors present the first evidence of the tsunami from the southern North Sea, and suggest that traditional notions of a catastrophically destructive event may need rethinking. In providing a more nuanced interpretation by incorporating the role of local topographic variation within the study of the Storegga event, we are better placed to understand the impact of such dramatic occurrences and their larger significance in settlement studies.

Remote Sensing, 2019

The northern and western isles of Scotland have proved fertile ground for archaeological investig... more The northern and western isles of Scotland have proved fertile ground for archaeological investigation over the last 100 years. However, the nature of the landscape with its rugged coastlines and irregular topography, together with rapid peat growth rates, make for challenging surveying. Commonly, an archaeological monument or series of monuments is identified but little is known about the surrounding areas and, in particular, the palaeo-landscapes within which the monuments are located. This situation is exemplified by the standing stones of Calanais in Lewis. Here, surrounding peat bogs have buried a significant portion of the landscape around which the stones were first erected. This project identifies remote sensing geophysical techniques that are effective in mapping the buried (lost) landscape and thus aid better contextualisation of the stone monuments within it. Further, the project demonstrates the most appropriate techniques for prospecting across these buried landscapes f...

2016 22nd International Conference on Virtual System & Multimedia (VSMM), 2016

Antiquity, 2014

Did Neanderthal hunters drive mammoth herds over cliffs in mass kills? Excavations at La Cotte de... more Did Neanderthal hunters drive mammoth herds over cliffs in mass kills? Excavations at La Cotte de St Brelade in the 1960s and 1970s uncovered heaps of mammoth bones, interpreted as evidence of intentional hunting drives. New study of this Middle Palaeolithic coastal site, however, indicates a very different landscape to the featureless coastal plain that was previously envisaged. Reconsideration of the bone heaps themselves further undermines the ‘mass kill’ hypothesis, suggesting that these were simply the final accumulations of bone at the site, undisturbed and preservedin situwhen the return to a cold climate blanketed them in wind-blown loess.

Science (New York, N.Y.), Jan 17, 2015

Bennett questions the rigor of the dating of our sample from which sedimentary ancient DNA was ob... more Bennett questions the rigor of the dating of our sample from which sedimentary ancient DNA was obtained and the reliability of the taxonomic identification of wheat. We present a further radiocarbon date from S308 that confirms the lateral consistency of the palaeosol age. The suggestion of taxonomic false positives in our data illustrates a misinterpretation of the phylogenetic intersection analysis.

Science (New York, N.Y.), Jan 27, 2015

The Mesolithic-to-Neolithic transition marked the time when a hunter-gatherer economy gave way to... more The Mesolithic-to-Neolithic transition marked the time when a hunter-gatherer economy gave way to agriculture, coinciding with rising sea levels. Bouldnor Cliff, is a submarine archaeological site off the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom that has a well-preserved Mesolithic paleosol dated to 8000 years before the present. We analyzed a core obtained from sealed sediments, combining evidence from microgeomorphology and microfossils with sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) analyses to reconstruct floral and faunal changes during the occupation of this site, before it was submerged. In agreement with palynological analyses, the sedaDNA sequences suggest a mixed habitat of oak forest and herbaceous plants. However, they also provide evidence of wheat 2000 years earlier than mainland Britain and 400 years earlier than proximate European sites. These results suggest that sophisticated social networks linked the Neolithic front in southern Europe to the Mesolithic peoples of northern Europe.

PLoS ONE, 2014

Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outsi... more Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outside Africa at between ca. 1 million and 0.78 million years ago. The site has long been recognised for the preservation of sediments containing Early Pleistocene fauna and flora, but since 2005 has also yielded humanly made flint artefacts, extending the record of human occupation of northern Europe by at least 350,000 years. The sediments consist of sands, gravels and laminated silts laid down by a large river within the upper reaches of its estuary. In May 2013 extensive areas of the laminated sediments were exposed on the foreshore. On the surface of one of the laminated silt horizons a series of hollows was revealed in an area of ca. 12 m 2. The surface was recorded using multi-image photogrammetry which showed that the hollows are distinctly elongated and the majority fall within the range of juvenile to adult hominin foot sizes. In many cases the arch and front/ back of the foot can be identified and in one case the impression of toes can be seen. Using foot length to stature ratios, the hominins are estimated to have been between ca. 0.93 and 1.73 m in height, suggestive of a group of mixed ages. The orientation of the prints indicates movement in a southerly direction on mud-flats along the river edge. Early Pleistocene human fossils are extremely rare in Europe, with no evidence from the UK. The only known species in western Europe of a similar age is Homo antecessor, whose fossil remains have been found at Atapuerca, Spain. The foot sizes and estimated stature of the hominins from Happisburgh fall within the range derived from the fossil evidence of Homo antecessor.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2000

Archaeological evaluation of deeply stratified sedimentary sequences from lowland river valleys c... more Archaeological evaluation of deeply stratified sedimentary sequences from lowland river valleys can be problematic because of the often excessive depth of the deposits, the associated high level of the water table and ground instability. In such situations conventional archaeological survey techniques are inappropriate and alternative methodologies are required. One suitable approach is to model subsurface stratigraphy, in an attempt to determine potential locations for buried archaeology, using an integrated borehole and geophysical program of ground investigation. Information of this type is often available in the form of geotechnical data that can be usefully augmented by geoarchaeological targeting of selected areas of the site for further information. In this paper we show how such techniques can be used to model buried gravel surfaces, peats within alluvial stacks and buried former clifflines in Holocene and Pleistocene sediments from southern England.

Internet Archaeology, 2013

ABSTRACT The capacity to conceptualise and measure time is amongst the most important achievement... more ABSTRACT The capacity to conceptualise and measure time is amongst the most important achievements of human societies, and the issue of when time was “created” by humankind is critical in understanding how society has developed. A pit alignment, recently excavated in Aberdeenshire (Scotland), provides an intriguing contribution to this debate. This structure, dated to the 8th millennium BC, has been re-analysed and appears to possess basic calendrical functions. The site may therefore provide the earliest evidence currently available for “time reckoning” as the pit group appears to mimic the phases of the Moon and is structured to track lunar months. It also aligns on the south east horizon and a prominent topographic point associated with sunrise on the midwinter solstice. In doing so the monument anticipates problems associated with simple lunar calendars by providing an annual astronomic correction in order to maintain the link between the passage of time indicated by the Moon, the asynchronous solar year, and the associated seasons. The evidence suggests that hunter-gatherer societies in Scotland had both the need and ability to track time across the year, and also perhaps within the month, and that this occurred at a period nearly five thousand years before the first formal calendars were created in Mesopotamia.

International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2004

A comparison of results from mapping using a swath bathymetric sonar system in the Tay Estuary, S... more A comparison of results from mapping using a swath bathymetric sonar system in the Tay Estuary, Scotland, and remote sensing data on the position of frontal systems, indicates that the frontal systems are controlling the distribution of sedimentary features in the estuary. The boundaries between zones, defined by the advancing flood fronts and exiting fresh water, are sharply defined both by the front and the bottom bedforms. Static fronts, usually axial fronts, exist at well-defined bathymetric changes and result in relatively stable bedforms. However, measurements of current velocities at migrating fronts suggest that the vertical component of velocity accelerated at the front boundary will cause erosion at the bed and migrating bed features. Predictions of sediment movement and sediment feature migration rates across areas where these fronts migrate are confirmed by the bathymetric sidescan sonar results that show asymmetry of the sedimentary dune features. The use of new high-resolution sonar, together with its repeatable precision in locating sedimentary bedforms, has significant implications for long-term modelling of sediment transport in estuaries and other similar areas.

A great wave: the Storegga tsunami and the end of Doggerland?, 2020

Around 8150 BP, the Storegga tsunami struck Northwest Europe. The size of this wave has led many ... more Around 8150 BP, the Storegga tsunami struck Northwest Europe. The size of this wave has led many to assume that it had a devastating impact upon contemporaneous Mesolithic communities, including the final inundation of Doggerland, the now submerged Mesolithic North Sea landscape. Here, the authors present the first evidence of the tsunami from the southern North Sea, and suggest that traditionalnotions of a catastrophically destructive event may need rethinking. In providing a more nuanced interpretation by incorporating the role of local topographic variation within the study of the Storegga event, we are better placed to understand the impact of such dramatic occurrences and their larger significance in settlement studies.

The first recorded crowdsourcing activity was in 1714 [1], with intermittent public event occurre... more The first recorded crowdsourcing activity was in 1714 [1], with intermittent public event occurrences up until the millennium when such activities become widespread, spanning multiple domains. Crowdsourcing, however, is relatively novel as a methodology within virtual environment studies, in archaeology, and within the heritage domains where this research is focused. The studies that are being conducted are few and far between in comparison to other areas. This paper aims to develop a recent concept in crowdsourcing work termed `crowd behaviour mining' [2] using virtual environments, and to develop a unique concept in crowdsourcing activities that can be applied beyond the case studies presented here and to other domains that involve human behaviour as independent variables. The case studies described here use data from experiments involving separate heritage projects and conducted during two Royal Society Summer Science Exhibitions, in 2012 and 2015 respectively. `Crowd Behaviour Mining' analysis demonstrated a capacity to inform research in respect of potential patterns and trends across space and time as well as preferences between demographic user groups and the influence of experimenters during the experiments.

The Archaeological Review from Cambridge (ARC) is a biannual journal of archaeology. It is run on... more The Archaeological Review from Cambridge (ARC) is a biannual journal of archaeology. It is run on a non-profit, voluntary basis by postgraduate research students at the University of Cambridge.

Geophysical survey techniques are commonly used as part of studies to reconstruct past geographie... more Geophysical survey techniques are commonly used as part of studies to reconstruct past geographies in archaeological and palaeoenvironmental landscape investigations onshore and offshore. However, their use across the intertidal zone for constructing contiguous models is far more challenging. In order to enhance the interpretation of the recovered data forward modelling is used here to demonstrate the effective use of a staged approach to site investigation. Examples of data from electrical and electromagnetic techniques have been modelled and tested with ground truth measurements including trial pits, coring and cone penetrometer testing. This combination of forward modelling and testing has proved to be particularly effective at mapping key geological situations of archaeological interest. The approach is demonstrated by reference to varying subsurface sediment types exemplified by two field examples from the UK coast where typical palaeolandscape features, namely incised channels and deeply buried topographies are encountered. These palaeogeographic features were chosen as they have high potential for association with the evidence of past human activity.

Title: A multidisciplinary approach to the archaeological investigation of a bedrock dominated sh... more Title: A multidisciplinary approach to the archaeological investigation of a bedrock dominated shallow marine landscape: an example from the Bay of Firth, Orkney, UK Article Type: Full Length Article Abstract: In the last decade the investigation of the shallow marine waters, around the margins of the continents, for the submerged remains of prehistoric archaeology has become common. Typically these investigations have focused on those areas in which bodies of sediment exist that contain the archaeological remains within the sediment matrix, often in pristine conditions. However, in the UK large parts of the submerged landscape are devoid of significant stratified sediment bodies and are dominated by near surface bedrock where only pockets of pre-inundation sediment lie interspersed between outcrops of bedrock and patches of highly mobile sediment sequences. In order to investigate the archaeological potential of such areas a more integrated approach that moves from regional to local scales is required to locate those areas in which archaeological remains may exist and to identify them when present. Here we illustrate such an approach using the northern UK seascape and a focus on the Bay of Firth in Orkney as a case study.

PLoS ONE, 2014

Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outsi... more Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outside Africa at between ca. 1 million and 0.78 million years ago. The site has long been recognised for the preservation of sediments containing Early Pleistocene fauna and flora, but since 2005 has also yielded humanly made flint artefacts, extending the record of human occupation of northern Europe by at least 350,000 years. The sediments consist of sands, gravels and laminated silts laid down by a large river within the upper reaches of its estuary. In May 2013 extensive areas of the laminated sediments were exposed on the foreshore. On the surface of one of the laminated silt horizons a series of hollows was revealed in an area of ca. 12 m 2 . The surface was recorded using multi-image photogrammetry which showed that the hollows are distinctly elongated and the majority fall within the range of juvenile to adult hominin foot sizes. In many cases the arch and front/ back of the foot can be identified and in one case the impression of toes can be seen. Using foot length to stature ratios, the hominins are estimated to have been between ca. 0.93 and 1.73 m in height, suggestive of a group of mixed ages. The orientation of the prints indicates movement in a southerly direction on mud-flats along the river edge. Early Pleistocene human fossils are extremely rare in Europe, with no evidence from the UK. The only known species in western Europe of a similar age is Homo antecessor, whose fossil remains have been found at Atapuerca, Spain. The foot sizes and estimated stature of the hominins from Happisburgh fall within the range derived from the fossil evidence of Homo antecessor.

Europe Oceans 2005, 2005

Antiquity, 2020

Remote Sensing, 2019

2016 22nd International Conference on Virtual System & Multimedia (VSMM), 2016

Antiquity, 2014

Science (New York, N.Y.), Jan 17, 2015

Science (New York, N.Y.), Jan 27, 2015

PLoS ONE, 2014

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2000

Internet Archaeology, 2013

International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2004

A great wave: the Storegga tsunami and the end of Doggerland?, 2020

PLoS ONE, 2014

Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outsi... more Investigations at Happisburgh, UK, have revealed the oldest known hominin footprint surface outside Africa at between ca. 1 million and 0.78 million years ago. The site has long been recognised for the preservation of sediments containing Early Pleistocene fauna and flora, but since 2005 has also yielded humanly made flint artefacts, extending the record of human occupation of northern Europe by at least 350,000 years. The sediments consist of sands, gravels and laminated silts laid down by a large river within the upper reaches of its estuary. In May 2013 extensive areas of the laminated sediments were exposed on the foreshore. On the surface of one of the laminated silt horizons a series of hollows was revealed in an area of ca. 12 m 2 . The surface was recorded using multi-image photogrammetry which showed that the hollows are distinctly elongated and the majority fall within the range of juvenile to adult hominin foot sizes. In many cases the arch and front/ back of the foot can be identified and in one case the impression of toes can be seen. Using foot length to stature ratios, the hominins are estimated to have been between ca. 0.93 and 1.73 m in height, suggestive of a group of mixed ages. The orientation of the prints indicates movement in a southerly direction on mud-flats along the river edge. Early Pleistocene human fossils are extremely rare in Europe, with no evidence from the UK. The only known species in western Europe of a similar age is Homo antecessor, whose fossil remains have been found at Atapuerca, Spain. The foot sizes and estimated stature of the hominins from Happisburgh fall within the range derived from the fossil evidence of Homo antecessor.

Press Release Strict Embargo until 14:00 EST / 19:00 GMT 26th February 2015 DNA evidence shows su... more Press Release
Strict Embargo until 14:00 EST / 19:00 GMT 26th February 2015
DNA evidence shows surprise cultural connections between Britain and Europe 8,000 years ago
25 February 2015
- New evidence shows wheat reached Britain 2,000 years before the arrival of wheat farming
- Mesolithic Britons interacted with Neolithic Europeans
- Shows Britain not be insular or isolated - early communities had social and trade networks linking them across Europe 8,000 years ago
- Published in the journal Science
The ancient British were not cut off from Europeans on an isolated island 8,000 years ago as previously thought, new research suggests.
Researchers found evidence for a variety of wheat at a submerged archaeological site off the south coast of England, 2,000 years before the introduction of farming in the UK.
The team argue that the introduction of farming is usually regarded as a defining historic moment for almost all human communities leading to the development of societies that underpin the modern world.
Published in the journal Science, the researchers suggest that the most plausible explanation for the wheat reaching the site is that Mesolithic Britons maintained social and trade networks spreading across Europe.
These networks might have been assisted by land bridges that connected the south east coast of Britain to the European mainland, facilitating exchanges between hunters in Britain and farmers in southern Europe.
Called Einkorn, the wheat was common in Southern Europe at the time it was present at the site in Southern England – located at Bouldnor Cliff.
The einkorn DNA was collected from sediment that had previously formed the land surface, which was later submerged due to melting glaciers.
The work was led by Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick, in collaboration with co-leads Professor Vincent Gaffney of the University of Bradford and Professor Mark Pallen of Warwick Medical School, the Maritime Archaeology Trust, the University of Birmingham and the University of St. Andrews.
Dr Allaby, Associate Professor at the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences, argues that the einkorn discovery indicates that Mesolithic Britain was less insular than previously understood and that inhabitants were interacting with Neolithic southern Europeans:
“8,000 years ago the people of mainland Britain were leading a hunter-gatherer existence, whilst at the same time in southern Europeans farming was gradually spreading across Europe.
“Common throughout Neolithic Southern Europe, einkorn is not found elsewhere in Britain until 2,000 years after the samples found at Bouldnor Cliff. For the einkorn to have reached this site there needs to have been contact between Mesolithic Britons and Neolithic farmers far across Europe.
“The land bridges provide a plausible facilitation of this contact. As such, far from being insular Mesolithic Britain was culturally and possibly physically connected to Europe.
“The role of these simple British hunting societies, in many senses, puts them at the beginning of the introduction of farming and, ultimately, the changes in the economy that lead to the modern world”.
“The novel ancient DNA approach we used gave us a jump in sensitivity allowing us to find many of the components of this ancient landscape”
Commenting on the research’s findings Professor Vincent Gaffney, research co-lead and Chair in Landscape Archaeology at the University of Bradford, said:
“This find is the start of a new chapter in British and European history. Not only do we now realise that the introduction of farming was far more complex than previously imagined. It now seems likely that the hunter-gather societies of Britain, far from being isolated were part of extensive social networks that traded or exchanged exotic foodstuffs across much of Europe.
“The research also demonstrates that scientists and archaeologists can now analyse genetic material preserved deep within the sediments of the lost prehistoric landscapes stretching between Britain and Europe. This not only tells us more about the introduction of farming into Britain, but also about the societies that lived on the lost coastal plains for hundreds of thousands of years.
“The use of ancient DNA from sediments also opens the door to new research on the older landscapes off the British Isles and coastal shelves across the world”
Co-lead Professor Mark Pallen, leader of the Pallen Group at the University of Warwick’s Medical School, explains how the researchers employed a metagenomic approach to study the einkorn DNA:
“We chose to use a metagenomics approach in this research even though this has not commonly been used for environmental and ancient DNA research. This means we extracted and sequenced the entire DNA in the sample, rather than targeted organism-specific barcode sequences. From this we then homed in on the organisms of interest only when analysing DNA sequences”.
The research builds on the work of the Maritime Archaeology Trust, who also collected the sediment samples from the site. The Trust’s Director, Garry Momber, commented:
“Of all the projects I have worked on, Bouldnor Cliff has been the most significant. Work in the murky waters of the Solent has opened up an understanding of the UK’s formative years in a way that we never dreamed possible.
“The material remains left behind by the people that occupied Britain as it was finally becoming an island 8,000 years ago, show that these were sophisticated people with technologies thousands of years more advanced than previously recognised. The DNA evidence corroborates the archaeological evidence and demonstrates a tangible link with the continent that appears to have become severed when Britain became an island”.
The research is published in a Science paper entitled: ‘Sedimentary DNA from a submerged site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8,000 years ago’. ENDS.
Notes for Editors:
To access a video of Professor Vince Gaffney visit http://bit.ly/1za99UQ
The researchers gratefully acknowledge the funding support of the University of Warwick Medical School.
The paper is supported by research by the Maritime Archaeology Trust
The project team were: Oliver Smith, Garry Momber, Paul Garwood, Richard Bates, Simon Fitch, Mark Pallen, Vincent Gaffney and Robin Allaby.
Pictures available upon request
Ends.
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Marine palaeolandscapes and the historic impact of long-term climate change: Royal Society Chic... more Marine palaeolandscapes and the historic impact of long-term climate change:
Royal Society
Chicheley Hall
May 15-16 2017

The Royal Society are hosting a Theo Murphy international scientific meeting on the implications of current research on marine palaeolandscapes. “Lost and Future Worlds: Marine palaeolandscapes and the historic impact of long-term climate change” has been organised by Professor Vincent Gaffney, Professor Geoff Bailey, Dr Richard Bates, Dr Philip Murgatroyd, Dr Eugene Ch’ng and Professor Robin G. Allaby the meeting will be held the Royal Society at conference centre at Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire (https://goo.gl/jgO5Ri), between
Monday 15 May – Tuesday 16 May.

Global warming following the last glacial maximum led to the global submergence of vast, populated landscapes. These largely unexplored lands hold a unique record of habitation linked to climate change. Frequently inaccessible, and unamenable to conventional analysis, this meeting brings together experts across historical and scientific disciplines to identify new analytical methods and the contemporary relevance of these lost lands.

Information on the meeting is held at https://goo.gl/nXtwS7
A t programme (PDF) is available to download at ...
https://royalsociety.org/~/media/events/2017/05/climate-change/Programme%20draft%206.pdf?la=en-GB
This residential conference is free to attend!

Advanced registration is essential (please request an invitation from https://goo.gl/nDjGbR

Catering and accommodation are available to purchase during registration

Poster session
There will be a poster session at 17:00 on Monday 15 May 2017. If you would like to apply to present a poster please submit your proposed title, abstract (not more than 200 words and in third person), author list, name of the proposed presenter and institution to the Scientific Programmes team no later than Monday 3 April 2017.

Please note that places are limited and are selected at the scientific organisers discretion. Poster abstracts will only be considered if the presenter is registered to attend the meeting.