Have you been involved with many archaeology excavations?
As a part of your first year in an Undergraduate Archaeology degree, you have to be a part of an excavation. It is part of a module and is assessed, and within this you are taught essential skills of archaeological fieldwork.
In my first year, we went to the Berth in Shropshire, an Iron Age Marsh Fort with some Medieval/Post-Medieval activity present on site. I worked in one section within one of the trenches on the boundary of the marsh fort. Within this trench we discovered many different things that illuminated details about the site. For example, we found that the wall has fallen down, and the debris was visible quite far into the fort itself. We found lots of bone within this section too, which allowed us to precisely date some activity with regards to the wall on this site after the excavation had finished. I found some teeth amongst the wall too, allowing me some experience to excavate with animal remains.
In addition, I found lots of small and crumbly bits of briquitage, Iron Age pottery, which allowed a relative dating of the site at the time. We also worked with Dr David Smith and Shelagh Norton, an ex-PhD student at the University, to try out some coring – basically sticking a big pole in the group to identify and organise different layers of sediment in the ground. This was a first step in learning about what kinds of environmental data can be collected on sites, particularly on wetland sites – which are so rarely investigated.
Outside of this compulsory module, I was given the opportunity to apply for an out-of-university Erasmus scheme, where you would be sent to an excavation somewhere in Europe to train in different ways people excavate in Europe. I managed to get a place on the Finland dig, where we were supposed to excavate a Neolithic settlement. However, due to the pandemic, this got cancelled.
What does fieldwork give you that lectures don't?
Fieldwork is the practical element of archaeology and allows you to visualise and practice the theories you were taught in class. It shows you what lecturers really mean about the difficulties of dating with just stratification or other forms of relative chronology. It allows you to learn the practical elements that also were not taught in the lesson, because they simply could not be. How to trowel or mattock a trench is not something that is easily taught in a lecture, you need to learn as you go.
Did you get to use the on-campus Archaeology Lab?
I got involved as much as I could with the practical element of my degree, whenever there was an opportunity to do so. I was often taught other modules in the labs, which provide you with an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the equipment. There were opportunities to work with the human remains and animal remains collection with Dr David Smith, learning how to articulate a skeleton and analyse the remains to provide a plethora of information. For example, in Dr Smith’s Human Remains Module, part of the module was to work with remains: learning to sex, age and determine pathology from a set of remains. Additionally, alongside my first-year excavation I was able to work on some of the remains from the Stonehenge project that happened the year before. We learned about lithics (stone tools) and how to identify them when found in gravelly/stone deposits.
What was your favourite module on your Archaeology degree?
I have to say, it is a close call with a couple of them. I have loved every single Egyptology module I have with Dr Leire Olabarria, especially the Masters module ‘Towns, Tombs and Temples’, where we have done a deep dive in to Egyptian archaeological remains, methodologies and theories for using these remains. Each week is a new challenge and allows us to develop an understanding of this region of archaeology, but also provides us with an opportunity to take parts and reflect on our own discipline or specialism. For example, throughout the course I have reflected on the applicability of methodologies used in Egyptian archaeology for British Prehistoric archaeology. But this has also worked the other way, using methodologies used to investigate British Prehistory and its applicability to Egyptian Archaeology. Moreover, an indepth discussion about how Egyptian archaeology has been impacted by colonialism and imperialism, and how this has shaped not only Egyptian archaeology but also archaeology generally.