Marking Boundaries

I wasn’t sure until recently the best way to mark out the Archaeological site boundary.

• I know from experience that light weight string gets caught up in brambles and that it easily gets tangled, it can trip people up and can easily get accidentally cut.
• Heavier duty rope would be better, but would be expensive, and heavy to carry.
• Hazard warning tape is another possibility, but it draws too much attention to itself – I would only want to use it when there is a real need to keep people out of an area – which in this case I do not.

I knew that surveyors on Time Team used a spray paint but I wasn’t sure how permanent it was, or toxic – I would be using it on a nature reserve. However, a little Googling on the Internet and I found a spray paint called SylvaMark. This has been approved for use by English Nature (Natural England‘s predecessor) on their own reserves, and after reading the blurb, it looks exactly what I want. I chose a blue colour since it was less fluorescent than the others and a type that only lasts a couple of weeks or more. It should arrive by the end of the week. I just hope the weather stays dry enough for me to be able use it before the next site clearance day.