Unlocking Ancient Landscapes – The Lossenham Project

Lankelma was proud to support The Lossenham Project, a community-led landscape research initiative that began in 2020. Focused on Lossenham and its surrounding hinterland—spanning 15 parishes across the Kent/Sussex border along the River Rother—the project aims to uncover the environmental and human history of this dynamic landscape over the past ten thousand years.

Reaching Deep into the Past

The Rother Valley holds deeply buried, waterlogged deposits that contain vital clues about environmental changes since the last Ice Age. Accessing these ancient layers requires specialist capability—an area where Lankelma’s expertise and advanced technology come to the forefront.

Using our MOSTAP sampling system, Lankelma successfully recovered samples from many metres below the surface, targeting ancient, organic-rich sediments. These samples have the potential to reveal well-preserved organic remains, which can be radiocarbon dated to build a refined chronology of how the valley’s environment has evolved over millennia.

Our Contribution

By combining geotechnical precision with archaeological sensitivity, Lankelma enabled researchers to reach and retrieve materials that would otherwise remain inaccessible. The information locked within these layers will play a key role in reconstructing past landscapes and understanding how communities adapted to their changing environment.

This project highlights Lankelma’s strength in delivering specialist investigations that go beyond traditional geotechnical work—supporting scientific discovery, heritage research, and environmental reconstruction with accuracy, care, and innovation.