In situ site preservation in the unsaturated zone: Avaldsnes

In recent years, attempts have been made to transfer systems of monitoring archaeological deposits outside the medieval towns. This paper presents the results of the past two years' investigations and monitoring at the Royal manor site of Avaldsnes, Karmøy municipality, Rogaland county, Norway. Methods of measuring directly in soil are discussed and tested, as most sites with preserved archaeological deposits outside and even to a large extent within the medieval towns are in the unsaturated zone and thus require different tools and methods for measuring relevant parameters than sites with accessible groundwater. The state of preservation at Avaldsnes as observed during the excavation campaigns in 2011 and 2012 is presented and conditions for future in situ site preservation and site management are discussed.