Archaeology – Science? Magic or Something Else?

How do you know what lies buried beneath the ground? Field survey is a serious business and takes time, money and hard intellectual work using geophysics and statistics. Maybe you feel that scale drawing, accurate measuring and detailed recording are tedious activities?

At Gunnersbury during summer 2009 I saw how to get results in a couple of hours using a dowsing stick. A handful of volunteers marked out a buidling buried under the lawn which they said was a medieval house I have seen a report with simple line drawings. Is it magic? Is it alternative science? As yet , to my knowledge, no one has organised an excavation to see what is really there. If you do not like working on the foreshore for hours doing careful observation and making accurate drawing in the cold, rain and mud you might like to try this technique. Your first step would be to find the local “dowsing society”: http://britishdowsers.org/. However, why not join a FROG with the Thames Discovery Programme? You will learn new skills, stretch your imagination and make new friends.