Conventional agricultural cultivation practices, e.g. ploughing and deep tillage, pose a threat to buried archaeological sites and earthworks, resulting in damage as well as increased soil erosion and loss (Spandl and others, 2010). However, agricultural technologies, have developed significantly in the last 20 years (since 2002), especially with the increasing use of Global Positioning Systems, minimum tillage systems and shift to more regenerative cultivation-methods as well as paludiculture. The aim of this quick scoping review and stakeholder consultation was to investigate the impact on heritage assets of these innovations and any wider implications for soil health, to inform policy, guidance and best practice and identify evidence gaps for future research.
The literature review and interviews have shown that some of the novel farming technologies have potential to improve soil health and protect the archaeological sites and features, e.g. low tyre pressure, controlled traffic farming, or novel design of machinery to reduce soil disturbance or water run-off. However, although the precision farming and robotics have been indicated by vast majority of interviewees as the most likely direction of farming in the future, there is very little evidence in the literature on their impact on historic assets. Research that directly investigated the impact of novel arable technologies on heritage assets is almost non-existent. A larger volume of research has been conducted to investigate the impacts of novel arable soil techniques on soil properties, which can be used to infer the potential impacts for heritage assets.