In Spring 2003, Butser Ancient Farm will be launching a test site for archæological geophysics. The site replicates some of the typical archaeological features encountered during excavations on the Upper Chalk of Southern England, with the aims falling into three primary categories:

- Research and Calibration
- Development of methodologies and equipment
- Education

The Paper will discuss the development of this aspect of the Ancient Farms' research as well as an in-depth analysis of the aims behind the project.

As part of the long term research on the site it is anticipated that the data gathered will enable a more complete understanding of the effects of climatic and other environmental change on the results obtained from a variety of geophysical instruments. This should allow a more complete understanding of the results gleaned during geophysical surveys on chalk at other localities. Associated with this, and an important element of the research, is the natural interface between Civil Engineering and Archæology, where co-operation between the two disciplines has formed an essential element of parts of the development of this site.