Cambridge Development ArchaeologyCommercial Archaeology for Major Developments

Research dataset

Cambridgeshire Development Archaeology Evidence Atlas

A searchable discovery layer for selected public archaeological report metadata in Cambridgeshire. Every result points back to its authoritative record; none should be treated as a complete historic-environment record or a prediction of archaeological potential.

Dataset version
0.2.0
Data cutoff
2026-09-30
Records included
11
Published grid references
5 (45.5%)

Executive view

What this release represents

This 0.2.0 release contains 11 selected ADS Library metadata records published between 2002 and 2024. 5 records carry a source-supplied grid reference; 6 do not and are not placed on the map.

Records included

11

Districts represented

4

Most represented method

Evaluation

Latest publication

2024

Read this carefully: the atlas records evidence represented in this deliberately small public catalogue. A low count can reflect investigation intensity, publication practice or incomplete discovery metadata; it does not mean low archaeological potential. Absence from this atlas is not evidence of absence of archaeology.

Search the evidence

Published records, with their provenance intact

1 record match the current filters.

Source record · ads-library-1190563

Archaeological investigations at Downham Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Archive Report

Credited organisation
Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Publication year
2019
Investigation year
2016
Method
Excavation
Location
Ely, East Cambridgeshire
Grid reference
553198, 281500 (British National Grid)
Source period terms
Late Bronze Age; Iron Age; Roman; Middle Saxon; Post-medieval
Source rights statement
ADS Terms of Use and Access

Metadata retained from the original discovery sample. Primary-page rechecks remain access-limited; a published coordinate is not a site boundary. These investigations are credited to the source organisation, not CDA.

Original catalogue record ↗DOI ↗

Source-record citation (organisation credited in metadata; check original authors)

Cambridge Archaeological Unit (2019). Archaeological investigations at Downham Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Archive Report. ADS Library record 1190563. https://doi.org/10.5284/1091726

Mapped evidence

Mapped source locations

This proportional coordinate plot only shows records where the source page supplied a British National Grid reference. It is not a basemap, a planning constraint map, or an archaeological risk map. All current filtered records have a published grid reference.

Elywest ← easting → eastnorthing ↑ north

Evidence table

Searchable source catalogue

Archaeological investigations at Downham Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Archive Report

Ely · 2019 · Excavation

Cambridge Archaeological Unit

Trends

Publication years represented in this release

11 records span 2002–2024. These are publication years, not a measure of how much archaeology occurred in any year; development activity, reporting practice and catalogue coverage all affect the series.

20152
20021
20041
20081
20111
20121
20141
20191
20221
20241

Methods represented

Intervention types in the current catalogue

Method labels are retained from the source metadata or conservatively normalised for display. They do not describe all work undertaken across Cambridgeshire.

Evaluation4
Excavation3
Archaeological recording1
Desk-based assessment1
Desk-based assessment and survey1
Systematic fieldwalking survey1

Worked examples

Read the record before drawing a conclusion

Ely: distinguish the report date from the investigation

The retained Downham Road record lists investigation year 2016 and publication year 2019. Inspect its source and DOI to check the original report; the year difference is not a measure of project delay. Its source period terms are catalogue labels, not evidence for another Ely parcel.

Inspect the Ely metadata →

Yaxley: an unmapped record is still a source

The Library site evaluation has no coordinates in this release. It remains searchable and citable as a bibliographic record; do not position it using a town centre or transfer a licence from a different report copy.

Inspect the Yaxley metadata →

Data quality

Spatial coverage and metadata completeness

45.5%

with a published grid reference

6

intentionally unmapped

11

records in this audited release

What is missing

A blank field is reported rather than inferred. No approximate settlement-centroid points have been created.

Grid reference6
Investigation year3
Archaeological period2
DOI2

Spatial confidence

Only source-supplied British National Grid references are plotted. Absence from this atlas is not evidence of absence of archaeology.

Unmapped6
Published grid reference5

Geographic distribution

Districts represented in this release

Counts are an attribute of the released catalogue, not a comparison of heritage significance or development risk.

4

East Cambridgeshire

4

South Cambridgeshire

2

Huntingdonshire

1

Fenland

Methodology

A discovery layer with explicit limits

Inclusion and exclusion

Selected Cambridgeshire ADS Library discovery metadata was recorded in the original release from public snippets; full primary-page verification remains partial. No CHER record has been bulk-copied. No OASIS API, private account or source PDF was accessed. Records without an independently confirmed public page, provenance or a source identifier were excluded.

Spatial handling

The map uses only British National Grid coordinates published on the source record. We do not infer a site location from a parish or town name. Records without usable coordinates are retained in the table and counted as unmapped.

Classification and duplicates

Investigation types and period terms are preserved from the source metadata or conservatively normalised for readable display. The build fails on duplicate source record IDs. Publication year is kept separate from investigation year where the latter is supported.

Licensing and corrections

Each derived row preserves the record-level licence/access statement. The atlas redistributes no report PDF and grants no blanket permission to reuse source material. Corrections should cite the atlas record ID and authoritative source page through the project-review form.

Full source manifest and reproducible-refresh instructions are maintained with the public dataset. Read the site’s editorial and corrections standards →

Release history

Version 0.2.0 · revised 2026-10-13

  • Documentation and release integrity upgrade; existing 11 source records retained, not newly primary-verified.
  • Public field dictionary, manifest and methodology; consistent versioned exports and source-level citations.

First release: 2026-09-30. Source verification: 2026-09-30 (partial). New documentation is not a fresh verification of the source records.

Previous release CSV · Previous release JSON

Citation and download

Cite this atlas and inspect its inputs

Version 0.2.0 · data cutoff 2026-09-30 · release revised 2026-10-13. The downloadable index retains source URLs and record-level licence statements. It does not include report PDFs.

Plain-text citation

Cambridge Development Archaeology (2026). Cambridgeshire Development Archaeology Evidence Atlas, version 0.2.0. Available at: https://cambridgedevelopmentarchaeology.co.uk/research/cambridgeshire-development-archaeology-atlas (release revised 2026-10-13; add your own access date).

BibTeX

@dataset{cda_atlas_0_2_0, author = {{Cambridge Development Archaeology}}, title = {Cambridgeshire Development Archaeology Evidence Atlas}, year = {2026}, version = {0.2.0}, url = {https://cambridgedevelopmentarchaeology.co.uk/research/cambridgeshire-development-archaeology-atlas}}

Download CSVDownload JSONSource manifestMethodology & refreshDownload dictionaryRead data dictionary

Project review

Need to understand what archaeology means for a development site?

The Evidence Atlas is historical/public discovery material, not a CHER search, planning opinion or site-specific assessment. Send the condition, site plan and existing evidence for a proportionate project review.

Submit your project briefTechnical capability