A day in the life of a training excavation: teaching archaeological fieldwork in the UK

Abstract

This paper considers current issues in the teaching of archaeological fieldwork skills, using a British university's summer excavation as a case study. Analysing diary accounts submitted by participants – including members of staff, undergraduate students and local volunteers – on an hourly basis throughout one working day provides a unique insight into the training process. Key issues such as the hierarchy and structure of the project itself can be seen in the light of their impact on the effective teaching of field skills. The different needs of students and local volunteers are discussed, and the extent to which these needs are addressed is also considered. The backdrop to this paper is the current debate in British archaeology between those who favour field schools/training excavations and those who believe that students learn more when placed on pure research excavations.

Keywords:

• Excavation
• fieldwork training
• university teaching
• Britain