Before building begins next year the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has invited Museum of London archaeologists to look for evidence of the original prehistoric Londoners right through to Roman, Viking, medieval and relatively recent industrial activities on the East London site.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: "This is an opportunity to chart and record the unique history of the area back to the first Londoners before it is given a new lease of life for the Games and future generations.

"Work will be carried out by experts and hopefully more clues to the Lea Valley's past will be found. We are starting well ahead of the planned start of construction and nothing is expected to be found that could affect our timetable."

The ODA is working with the Museum of London on the project to identify potentially interesting remains currently buried beneath dumped topsoil, rubble and domestic waste from the 19th century when the area was filled for industrial use.

Today teams will begin digging and investigating a dozen archaeological evaluation trenches, up to four metres deep, on the Velopark site in the North-East of the Olympic Park. Investigations will concentrate on:

The Museum of London Archaeology Service has been providing professional archaeological services to the property industry and academic community for the past 30 years, as an independent division of the Museum of London, the world's largest museum of urban history. Pre-Construct Archaeology is one of the largest archaeological practices in the UK with the capability to undertake projects of all sizes and complexity and in any geographic location.

Museum of London tells the lively story of London and Londoners from pre-historic times. Find out more about this tale of glamour, grandeur, sleaze and disease at www.museumoflondon.org.uk.

• Hennikers Ditch - a medieval waterway along the route of the ancient river Leyton
• Channelsea River - reputedly dug by King Alfred in the late 9th century to divert invading Vikings from the City of London.
• Second World War gun emplacements that helped defend London from air attacks and other military buildings.

The considerable archaeological programme will focus on the sites of the permanent Olympic Park venues and infrastructure to ensure the site is investigated, cleared and ready for construction to start in Summer 2008, one of the ODA's 'Milestones to Beijing' set out earlier this month. The archaeological research shows that nothing of national importance requiring preservation on site is expected to be found.

Interesting remains will either be photographed and recorded or removed to form part of the Museum of London's collection. Archaeologists are also charting the topography of the site to build a picture of how the land and waterways have developed and how climate change has affected the area.

Museum of London Senior Archaeologist Kieron Tyler said: "This investigation will tell the story of the changing landscape and exactly how human intervention has constantly influenced the environment. It is a unique opportunity to do it on such a huge scale."

Lea Valley archaeological timeline

• 500,000 BC: River Lea adopted current course
  
• 6000BC: In the Mesolithic the area covered by the Olympic Park was probably freshwater, consisting of a lightly wooded reed swamp or grass fen with the dry areas targeted for Later Mesolithic settlement and exploitation.
  
• 3000BC: By the Neolithic sea level had risen and most of the area covered by the Olympic Park had become wetlands which the early Londoners navigated by timber walkways to fish and hunt.
  
• 50AD: the Roman road 'Ermine Street' from London to Colchester crossed marshes
  
• Late 9th century: King Alfred reputedly dug Channelsea river to divert invading Vikings from the Thames on their way to London
  
• 1110: The first stone arch bridge in Britain and road, over the River Lea, were constructed at the bequest of Queen Matilda, just north of the current Stratford High Street and south of the old Roman road. Its Bow shape gave the area its name. A chapel dedicated to St Katherine may have stood on the bridge or close by. The causeway was demolished in the 19th century.
  
• 1135: On the east side of the Lea, the Cistercian Abbey of Stratford Langthorne was built on the Stratford marshes. The Cistercian Order was renowned for its engineering ability, particularly of water channels and the exploitation of water power.
  
• Late 12th century: Between 1185 and 1278, the Knights Templar, using land granted to them by William of Hastings, steward to Henry II, to build a water mill at Temple Mills. In 1308, a second mill was built on the opposite side of the mill stream. Both were pulled down in 1854.
  
• 1335 – 1860: The manor of Chobhams was formed in 1329-31 by John de Preston close to the south-eastern corner of Eastway Cycle Circuit. The medieval manor house was later owned by Lord Henniker and survived at least into the 1860s.
  
• 17th century: Calico printing began in Britain at William Sherwin’s works on the south side Stratford High Street in 1696. The mill had 400 staff which included French Huguenot refugees. William Morris worked in this tradition at Merton during the 19th century.
  
• 18th Century: The Bow porcelain factory (New Canton) used foreign craftsmen to introduce skills to the local population. Thomas Frye took out a patent in 1744 to make porcelain, although production probably began in late 1747/1748. It was the one of the first two porcelain manufactories in Britain, possibly the first. Porcelain production in England reached its peak from 1772 to 1774 when fourteen British pothouses were active.
  
• 1858: The Northern Outfall Sewer was constructed in 1859 – 1875 from central London to Beckton. It was designed and engineered by Joseph Bazalgette after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and 'the Big Stink' of 1858.
  
• 1860: Plastic invented in the Lea Valley. In 1856 Alexander Parkes developed Parkesine (the first thrermoplastic). In 1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick on Wallis Road, for bulk low-cost production. It was not, however, a commercial success as Parkesine was expensive to produce, prone to cracking and highly flammable. The business was wound up in 1868.
  
• 1876: Dry cleaning introduced to the UK. The French cleaning process was brought to this part of London. Achille Serre’s business based on the Olympic Park site from c 1896–c 1928 Achille Serre sold their dry-cleaning business to Sketchley in 1969.
  
• Late 19th century: land fill began. Around half of the Olympic park area has seen some form of ground raising when industrial waste began being dumped on the site.
  
• 1892: First petrol factory. The word petrol was first used in reference to the refined substance as early as 1892, and was registered as a trade name by English wholesaler previously based on the Olympic Park site, Carless, Capel & Leonard.
  
• 1904: William Yardley established his cosmetics, soap and lavender business in Bloomsbury inn the late 18th century. The factory on Carpenter's Road opened in 1904 and has since been demolished.

Ends

Notes to Editors

• The Museum of London Archaeology Service (MOLAS) and Pre-Construct Archaeology Limited (PCA), in conjunction with Capita Symonds Ltd, are working in partnership with the ODA and its tier one contractors Morrison Construction Ltd and Edmund Nuttall Ltd on the archaeological investigation programme.
• Evaluation trenches allow archaeologists to determine whether anything ancient survives in this area - layers in side of the trench which show if there’s any human activity – pit or post hole, fire, floors, walls, etc. If something is revealed archaeologists will dig with traditional methods (by hand).
• Studies to date suggest that nothing of national importance requiring preservation on site is expected within the Olympic Park and this archaeological work is built into the construction programme. The programme of archaeological work will record, analyse and report on the finds.