The need to carry out archaeological investigations in advance of new road construction was recognised in the 1960s. The Department of Transport recognises that rescue archaeology is essential to the preservation and recording of our heritage where important sites cannot be avoided. Archaeology is just one of the aspects that are considered during the planning of road schemes. The landscape through which a road will pass and inevitably alter is not, as many people assume, a sole product of nature; it is very much man-made. It is a development from the effects of all the past activities that happened across it. Archaeology, which is the study of Man's past through the analysis of his material culture, includes the study of the past landscape. By using archaeology the story of a landscape's development can be unravelled - a still developing story in which a new road is the most recent chapter. The M3 took many years to complete but throughout its construction archaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the remains of our past prior to their removal. This was extremely valuable in building up knowledge of the past by enabling the preservation of irreplacable information through the examination of sites and the compilation of a detailed record. This booklet (produced in 1992) summarises the results of the work carried out to examine the final section of the M3 between Bar End and Compton near Winchester in Hampshire.
The need to carry out archaeological investigations in advance of new road construction was recognised in the 1960s. The Department of Transport recognises that rescue archaeology is essential to the preservation and recording of our heritage where important sites cannot be avoided. Archaeology is just one of the aspects that are considered during the planning of road schemes. The landscape through which a road will pass and inevitably alter is not, as many people assume, a sole product of nature; it is very much man-made. It is a development from the effects of all the past activities that happened across it. Archaeology, which is the study of Man's past through the analysis of his material culture, includes the study of the past landscape. By using archaeology the story of a landscape's development can be unravelled - a still developing story in which a new road is the most recent chapter. The M3 took many years to complete but throughout its construction archaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the remains of our past prior to their removal. This was extremely valuable in building up knowledge of the past by enabling the preservation of irreplacable information through the examination of sites and the compilation of a detailed record. This booklet (produced in 1992) summarises the results of the work carried out to examine the final section of the M3 between Bar End and Compton near Winchester in Hampshire.
The need to carry out archaeological investigations in advance of new road construction was recognised in the 1960s. The Department of Transport recognises that rescue archaeology is essential to the preservation and recording of our heritage where important sites cannot be avoided. Archaeology is just one of the aspects that are considered during the planning of road schemes. The landscape through which a road will pass and inevitably alter is not, as many people assume, a sole product of nature; it is very much man-made. It is a development from the effects of all the past activities that happened across it. Archaeology, which is the study of Man's past through the analysis of his material culture, includes the study of the past landscape. By using archaeology the story of a landscape's development can be unravelled - a still developing story in which a new road is the most recent chapter. The M3 took many years to complete but throughout its construction archaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the remains of our past prior to their removal. This was extremely valuable in building up knowledge of the past by enabling the preservation of irreplacable information through the examination of sites and the compilation of a detailed record. This booklet (produced in 1992) summarises the results of the work carried out to examine the final section of the M3 between Bar End and Compton near Winchester in Hampshire.