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Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, UK
This paper reviews a series of investigations undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in North Kent in advance of major construction projects. Three sites have been investigated on areas of former saltmarsh at Queenborough, Motney Hill and Gravesend. All three sites currently contain wastewater treatment works (WTW) which are being enhanced in order to meet new water quality standards, involving the construction of new buildings on dense grids of piles driven through the alluvium to more solid strata up to 15 m below ground surface. The paper discusses each investigation in terms of the archaeological and geotechnical background, the evaluation and mitigation strategy adopted, and the contribution that the results may make to our understanding of human activity on the North Kent coast over the past 10 000 years. The paper also looks ahead to development-led investigations at other coastal locations, to show how such work can make a direct contribution to geoarchaeological research while reconciling the objectives of construction and conservation.
