Boxgrove restoration work begins.

Work has begun on the restoration of the Boxgrove site in accordance with plans produced by the project team (click above images for views of the ongoing work). Following the purchase earlier this year of Quarry 1 using ALSF funds, negotiations between the project, English Heritage and West Sussex County Council have produced a workable programme of restoration which will both achieve the aims of protecting the archaeology and creating new habitats while also allowing continuated excavation within parts of the quarry. The first phase of this work commenced in mid-October with the arrival of earth moving machinery on the site. For the next few months these will be employed in the movement of tonnes of gravel to reshape the quarry, ameliorating the steep sides and sealing the archaeology beneath 3-4m of protective sediment. However, in the locale immediately surrounding the hominid finds, the earth-movements will actually increase the area of sediment open to further excavation.
UCL will continue to monitor the restoration process and manage the site through the Boxgrove Project. Once the major landscaping is completed and the site covered with topsoil, planting will begin in order to establish a variety of new woodland, pasture and aquatic habitats. In the final phase of the restoration, infrastructure required to support excavations will be put in place as the first stage towards the establishment of a permanent field research centre at the site.