During the summer of 1980, excavations at Shaugh Moor were extended to the Saddlesborough reave, it was hoped to establish the nature of the land boundaries which characterise this part of Dartmoor.

In this area the reave runs downslope in a south-easterly direction away from Saddlesborough and it was investigated by a number of sections at progressively lower elevations between approximately 300 and 285 metres OD. Sections in a number of trenches were studied in detail (trenches AN, AM, AL, AJ, AI, and AG; see figure 1). Profiles Ai and Aii are examples of modern soils adjacent to trenches AN and AG respectively. The soils were described,ignited to give a visual indication of their iron content and thin sections were made of material from trenches AL and AJ.

Samples for pollen analysis were cut from freshly cleaned excavation sections. They were taken at one or two centimetre intervals through the buried soils and the reave bank. Towards the top of each section samples were taken at five centimetre intervals.

The position of each of the sample columns taken is recorded on the drawn sections in the excavation archive. Diagramatic sections showing major stratigraphie boundaries are included with each pollen diagram. Detailed descriptions of soil characters at different points along the reave are given in the accompanying soil report by Dr Macphail. The pollen profiles to which the descriptions relate are indicated in the soil report.

The principal method adopted for the soil phosphate analysis for the Shaugh Moor project was a slightly modified version of that published by Dick and Tabatabai (1977). This method involves extraction of soil phosphate by alkaline oxidation with Sodium hypobromite (NaOBr-NaOh). It has been calculated that this process extracts about 60-70% of total phosphate from soils such as those on Shaugh Moor (Ralph, pers comm). This was considered satisfactory foe the purposes of this project.

It is thought that this method has not been used before in archaeological survey work but it is suggested that the simplicity of the technique and the relatively high level of phosphate extraction might prove of value in future work.

The waterlogged wood from Wotter Common was examined for signs of possible insect attack. The wood from over forty samples ranged from artifacts (including the possible ard) to small branches and twigs. Probable insect attack was identified from channels visible in cross section (apparently representing galleries excavated by the larvae of wood boring insects) and holes on the surface which resemble the flight holes of the adults. In many cases the soft waterlogged wood showed signs of penetration by plant roots which produce similar channelling to insect boring. It was not always possible to identify the original cause, but plant roots had occasionally survived in the channels and were also suggested were groups ran in parallel across the rays.