Archaeologists, working on the site of the soon to be updated A34 interchange at Lodge Hill, near Abingdon, have unearthed evidence of an ancient river system dating back half a million years.
Experts from Oxford Archaeology, commissioned by Balfour Beatty, dug trial trenches and test pits to explore the area’s deep past before work on the A34 interchange begins. Discoveries include river sediment from an ancient river system and flint tools that suggest early human presence.
(Thanks to the Oxfordshire County Council news release: https://news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/early-hominin-evidence-uncovered-at-site-of-a34-lodge-hill-interchange/. Also thanks to Chat GPT API which generated the image when I gave it the story.)
Thanks, Alister, – although that road looks as though it’s going off into the river system!
At least initial work is beginning on the interchange. Let’s hope that the funds have been fully and irreversibly allocated. We don’t want a road version of HS2. What we need is Mastermind: “I’ve started, so I’ll finish.”
Hi PPJS,
I asked Chat GPT for another picture and it generated the current one. I am not going to make a habit of using an AI for images but had nothing right.
Actually, I quite like the road going off into the river; I thought it was reminiscent of so many infrastructure projects that have sunk without trace. I like the current image, though some of those workers look as though they have been recruited from a couple of centuries ago.
Great fun!
Work progresses on Thames Water’s new sewage system.
Imagine all the things that are yet undiscovered around the Abingdon area, after having so many settlements over so many thousands of years.
The AI-generated picture is rather Ravillious-style isn’t it? Maybe crossed with classic Ladybird illustrations.