Dyfed Archaeological Trust has many exciting opportunities to get involved with throughout the year. The CALCH project, for example, is investigating the forgotten history of the lime industry on the Black Mountain, located in south-east Wales. There are all sorts of ways to take part, from excavation to research, with no experience necessary. There is [...]
Meet George: the Curious History of an Egyptian Coffin Lid
In ‘Sherds’, CA 275, we brought you the story of ‘George’, a sarcophagus lid now housed by the University of Birmingham’s archaeology museum. We were intrigued by the artefact’s long and eventful history, and Collections Assistant Emily Millward has kindly written us a biography of George, to shed a little light on his past – and to [...]
Secrets of an Iron Age smith
November 28, 2012 By Filed Under: News
New finds at Beechwood Farm, Inverness may help to reveal the ancient techniques of prehistoric Ironworkers, and provide new perspectives on metalworking in northern Scotland.
10 things you might not know about the Mary Rose
Launched in 1511, the Mary Rose was intended to be the flagship of King Henry VIII’s fleet. She was a new breed of warship with purpose-built gun-ports that made her a fearsome floating fortress. But on 19 July 1545, for reasons still unknown, she sank in the Solent whilst leading 60 ships against the French. [...]
Do Irish Bog Oaks Date the Shang Dynasty?
August 6, 2012 By Filed Under: Features
In CA 111 Chris Scarre pointed out that the explosion of Thera could be dated to 1626 BC. This may, however, only be the beginning. There are at least 4 other prehistoric dates that the readers of CA should learn by heart; I believe that our work on tree-rings has revealed several major volcanic eruptions which may have caused climatic upset on a world wide basis. [...]
Volcanoes and population
In 1985 I presented a population graph for Britain extending from the Mesolithic to recent times, which was characterised by periodic ups and downs, the lows being the result of catastrophic processes in which an overall loss of the order of 50% in a century was envisaged. This was on the level of the historical population disasters of the 6th and 14th centuries AD. Just such [...]
Volcanoes, Catastrophe and the Global Crisis of the Late Second Millennium BC
August 6, 2012 By Filed Under: Features
When Andrew Selkirk asked me to append some comments to Mike Baillie’s piece on volcanic “events”, it prompted the notion that I had written on catastrophes in Current Archaeology some years ago. It proved after a long search to be exactly ten years ago (CA 67) and to be a paragraph entitled “Catastrophe?” I postulated then a [...]
Phosphate-analysis pudding
July 3, 2012 By Filed Under: Cakes
This cake was made for Dr Johanna Ullrich, a phosphate-analysis specialist, to mark her departure from the University College Dublin School of Archaeology last October. On top of the cake there is an Ogham stone, a grey box marked ‘phosphate analysis’, and the blue book is Renfrew and Bahn’s Archaeology: theories, methods and practice. Sent in by Niamh Kelly, featured in [...]
Is there a future in studying the past?
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Studying archaeology
Is this the time to pursue a course in archaeology? The word from the field that reaches the Current Archaeology offices is that graduates are disillusioned with their prospects: jobs are scarce, competition is fierce and projects are poorly funded. What’s the point? Archaeology is a fascinating and diverse subject that is hugely enjoyable to [...]
Into the Light – CASPAR at UCL
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Don Henson, Director of CASPAR (Centre for Audio-Visual Study and Practice in Archaeology) explains how an innovative new centre at the Institute of Archaeology, University College, London, aims to move archaeology into the 21st century. Archaeology has long been a popular subject for television and radio. Although the relationship has been controversial at times, archaeology [...]
Distance Learning – Anytime Anywhere
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Getting started, Studying archaeology
Distance learning can offer a valuable route into archaeological study for those who are unable, or just don’t want to, commit to a traditional academic course. Whether you wish to gains recognised qualifications or just learn more about a topic that interests you, distance learning can be ideal. Here two experts in distance learning and [...]
Want to be a Digger? – entering the world of commerical archaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Getting started, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, Head of Communications, Wessex Archaeology offers us his insight and tips on getting onto the earchaeology career ladder If you want to be an archaeologist, what do you need to do to get that first job? Most entry-level jobs are in professional practice, usually as fixed-term contracts doing fieldwork, so you [...]
Under the Microscope – Archaeological Conservation
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
From Chinese bronzes and Ango-Saxon burial goods, to children’s workshops and international conferences, a conservator’s life is never dull. Dana Goodburn-Brown takes us through a typical day. On a typical day, the morning starts with an e-mail session: picking up reminders for work to do, responding to queries, putting my own out, lobbying for financial [...]
Best Career Ever? – Sports Archaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Archaeology and football are not mutually exclusive: Archaeologist Jason Wood visits Liverpool’s Anfield stadium to show how sport, history and heritage interests work together. In my first year at secondary school I won an essay competition. The question read: ‘Imagine you are an archaeologist in the year 3000. Describe and interpret your discoveries resulting [...]
Academia – the Professor’s point of view
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Ian Haynes, Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University, discusses the challenges in providing students with a thorough archaeological education and discusses how new programmes at Newcastle are rising to the task. While universities are inevitably feeling the bite of this current recession, for students, graduates, and colleagues in higher education and the heritage sectors, many [...]
A Growing Field – Environmental Archaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Environmental archaeology provides a landscape context for the archaeological activities on sites. This may be reconstructing how whole regions looked in the past – what today is open grassland may once have been covered by a forest, or the sea; or unravelling the activities of the people who lived there in past centuries, what they [...]
Mastering the Past – Studying Archaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
A look at what an education in archaeology involves for prospective students There is no denying archaeology is a topic that continues to grow in popularity; just turn on thetelevision and have a look at an evening’s schedule – there will be at least one programme (probably more!) on archaeology. Certainly, it is an increasingly [...]
Choosing a Field – Specialisms in Archaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
The field of archaeology covers the full extent of human existence, through time and across the world. Small wonder it has spawned so many sub-disciplines, theoretical and practical. We look at some of the choices. There is more to archaeology than scraping away with a trowel or brushing dust from ancient hieroglyphs. The word ‘archaeology’ [...]
Ethnoarchaeology
May 11, 2012 By Filed Under: Advice, Careers in archaeology, Education Advice, Specialisms, Studying archaeology
Ethnoarchaeology is the study of past societies, focusing on material remains, rather than culture. Sometimes known as anthropological archaeology, it can provide insight into how people in the past may have lived, especially with regard to their social structures and religious beliefs. By looking at the way in which different social groups live and behave [...]
