Heather Papworth

Heather Papworth

  • hpapworth at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
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Research

PhD Title: The assessment and application of historic stereo aerial photographs for evaluating archaeological earthwork reconstruction

My research rigorously tests topographic models created from archive aerial stereo-photographs for the purpose of archaeological reconstruction. The methodology I have developed utilises airphoto archives from the UK dating back to the early 1940s, providing a seventy year record from which to extract the metric data, consisting of earthwork dimensions and volumes, required to reconstruct damaged and destroyed earthworks.

Archival photography is readily available to researchers and the public from local authorities and heritage bodies across the UK. My research will demonstrate to national and international archaeology professionals and to the public the hitherto unrealised ability of archive aerial stereo-photography to reconstruct damaged and destroyed earthworks around the world. Further it will demonstrate the ability to quantify the effects of change to this resource by different factors, i.e. mechanised ploughing, cliff erosion, urbanisation, sea level rise etc. for the first time. This has the potential to influence government policy (e.g. agricultural, planning, transport and environmental policies) at scales from local (e.g. county councils) to global (e.g. UNESCO).

My research will address the issues raised by earthwork loss by providing a means by which to retrieve lost metrics and provide the tools necessary to plan for future loss mitigation.

Journal Articles

Books

  • Andrews, D., Bedford, J., Blake, B., Bryan, P., Cromwell, T., Lea, R., 2010. Measured and Drawn: Techniques and Practice for the Metric Survey of Historic Buildings. English Heritage.

Conferences

  • Papworth, Ford, A., Welham, K., Thackray, D., 2014. Assessing archive stereo-aerial photographs for reconstructing archaeological earthworks. In: Aerial Archaeology Research Group 2014 23/09/2014 Dublin.
  • Papworth, Ford, A., Welham, K., Thackray, D., 2014. Investigating archive stereo-aerial photographs for reconstructing archaeological earthworks. In: RSPSoc 2014 02/09/2014 Aberystwyth.
  • Papworth, H., Ford, A., Welham, K., Thackray, D., 2014. Archive stereo-aerial photographs for reconstructing archaeological earthworks. In: Wavelength 2014 14/04/2014 Great Malvern, Worcestershire.
  • Papworth, H.E., Ford, A.L.J., Welham, K., 2013. The assessment and application of historic stereo aerial photographs for evaluating archaeological earthwork reconstruction. In: RSPSoc 2013 03/09/2013 Glasgow.
  • Papworth, Welham, K., Ford, A.L.J., Thackray, D., 2012. Investigating laser penetration depths of a NIR airborne laser scanner in very shallow water. In: Remote Sensing and Photgrammetry Society Annual Conference 2011 13/09/2011 Bournemouth University.
  • Papworth, Brown, D.H., Earl, G.P., 2004. The Application of Colour Reproduction within a Museum Display. In: Cain, K., Chrysanthou, Y., Niccolucci, F., Pletinckx, D., Silberman, N., eds. Interdisciplinarity or The Best of Both Worlds: The Grand Challenge for Cultural Heritage Informatics in the 21st Century 07/12/2004 Ename Center, Belgium. Budapest: ARCHAEOLINGUA.

Theses

Grants

  • The assessment and application of historic stereo aerial photographs for evaluating archaeological earthwork reconstruction (Bournemouth University, 01 Dec 2012). Awarded

Honours

  • Best Photogrammetric Contribution (http://news.bournemouth.ac.uk/2014/09/22/double-whammy-win-for-bournemouth-university-researchers/) (RSPSoc, 2014)
  • Best Student Presentation (Aerial Archaeology Research Group, 2014)

Memberships

The data on this page was last updated at 05:00 on February 18, 2026.