Ben Pears
Ben Pears is currently a Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at the University of Southampton. He is a Geoarchaeologist and has previously worked at the University of Exeter on the Leverhulme Trust-funded project ‘Fields of Britannia’ (with S.Rippon and C.Smart 2015) looking at the relationship between the Romano-British and the medieval landscapes; and the NERC-funded ‘Impacts of tropical cyclone Yasi on the Great Barrier Reef Project’ (with C.Perry et al. 2014). Other collaborations include the National Trust funded ‘Gunwalloe: Environs Project’ (with I.Wood 2013), ‘Poltimore House Project’ (with O.Creighton 2012: http://elac.ex.ac.uk/poltimore-landscapes/page.php?id=233) and ‘Torblaharen, Kilmartin Project’ (with R.Tipping 2011). During his career he has also worked extensively in commercial archaeology as a specialist and published a BAR on ‘Bronze Age landscapes at Thorney, Cambridgeshire’ (with A.Mudd 2008).
less
InterestsView All (23)
Uploads
Books by Ben Pears
Papers by Ben Pears
accumulation rate regularly exceeded 3mm year−1, which increased to 4.5mm year−1 between c. 1690 and 1710CE, and 3 and 3.5mm year−1 between c.1790 and 1840CE before alluviation was altered by an embankment. The greatest extent of coarse overbank deposition and increased accumulation rate occur concurrently with periods of climatic instability associated with the Maunder (1645–1715CE) and Dalton (1790–1820CE) Minima, the periods of largest historical floods and during the intensification of arable cultivation across the middle Severn catchment. This data correlates well with other sites in the catchment suggesting that these are basin-wide forcing-responses. We also present evidence that this catchment-wide hydro-geomorphological history had local effects in shifting the geographical focus of an important settlement away from its historic floodplain edge location – which can be viewed
as an adaptation to the flood risk.
accumulation rate regularly exceeded 3mm year−1, which increased to 4.5mm year−1 between c. 1690 and 1710CE, and 3 and 3.5mm year−1 between c.1790 and 1840CE before alluviation was altered by an embankment. The greatest extent of coarse overbank deposition and increased accumulation rate occur concurrently with periods of climatic instability associated with the Maunder (1645–1715CE) and Dalton (1790–1820CE) Minima, the periods of largest historical floods and during the intensification of arable cultivation across the middle Severn catchment. This data correlates well with other sites in the catchment suggesting that these are basin-wide forcing-responses. We also present evidence that this catchment-wide hydro-geomorphological history had local effects in shifting the geographical focus of an important settlement away from its historic floodplain edge location – which can be viewed
as an adaptation to the flood risk.