Archaeological prospection at Auli and Sandene in Vestfold. Tønsberg and Larvik municipalities, Vestfold.

Abstract

NIKU, in cooperation with the LBI ArchPro, conducted motorized GPR surveys at Auli and Sandene in Vestfold. Both sites are previously known for their archaeological potential due to several metal detecting finds. Vestfold fylkeskomune and Riksantikvaren wants to clarify if archaeological structures are still remaining in the ground which might show connections to the metal finds. In two days in September and October 2016, 10,2 hectares have been surveyed with the MIRA3 system in total. The results show a large number of archaeological structures in the ground which have been previously unknown. This confirmed the archaeological importance of these places, indicated already from the metal detector finds. The presented results will be further analysed together with the metal detecting finds to put them into a broader cultural historical context. This further analyse will be conducted by Vestfold fylkeskommune and is not included in this report. Nevertheless the initial results demonstrate the large potential of combining different survey techniques to get a broader understanding of an archaeological site.