Archaeological fieldwork at Newcastle University
Gaining fieldwork experience is vital if you wish to work in archaeology after you graduate, but it is also a great opportunity to develop a range of skills (e.g. teamwork and problem-solving) which will help you irrespective of your future career.
For this reason, we expect all our students on single and joint degree programmes to complete a minimum of four weeks' field placement on an approved project.
Fieldwork is organized in the summer vacations at the end of Stages 1 and 2. Work experience in a museum or other heritage organizations may also be possible in Stage 2. We offer financial support to many of our students during their placements.
For further information, please contact Dr Jan Harding.
Field Projects
Our students complete their placements around the world. Many attend our own field projects, which currently include:
The Ardnamurchan Transitions Project
Directors: Dr Oliver Harris (Newcastle University), Phil Richardson (Newcastle University and Archaeology Scotland), Helena Gray (CFA Archaeology) and Hannah Cobb (Manchester University)
The project examines all periods from the Neolithic to the present day on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Western Scotland. It is interested in how inhabitation of the peninsula has changed, especially at particular moments of transition including the arrival of farming in prehistory and the 19th century AD Highland Clearances. Working on the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project gives students the opportunity to try different kinds of archaeology, work on very different sites, and boost their skills in a number of areas. The project is available for two to three weeks each summer, and in addition to the field training it offers careers seminars, field trips and occasional evening classes.
Bollihope Common Archaeology Project
Directors: Dr Jane Webster and Dr Robert Young (English Heritage)
Bollihope Common is located near Stanhope in Weardale. As with many moorland stretches of northern Britain, there is LOTS of archaeology here, dating from the Mesolithic (around 6000 BC) right through to the Industrial Revolution. Jane Webster and Rob Young have been digging at Bollihope since 1998, and every year 25 Newcastle students get their first taste of excavation here, during our three-week fieldwork season. Bollihope is also a community excavation, and local volunteers of all ages can come along and dig with us for free, receiving exactly the same fieldwork training as our students. We very much encourage sixth form students thinking about archaeology degrees to come along and dig with us too. This can be done on a day-to-day basis (for free) and we also offer a limited number of one-week (fee paying) residential placements too. Contact Jane Webster for more details.
Factsheet for community volunteers 2011, (PDF 83.8 KB)
Kilise Tepe Project
Directors: Dr Mark Jackson (Newcastle University) and Prof Nicholas Postgate (Cambridge University)
Undergraduate, postgraduates, and graduates from Newcastle University have been trained at Kilise in southern Turkey. The project’s main research aim has been to examine the changing nature of this Byzantine rural settlement from the from the 4th to 13th centuries AD. This was a period of great historical change in southern Asia Minor and Kilise Tepe is ideally located to address a number of important research questions at a local and regional level. Students from Newcastle can spend two months in the summer as part of a large international team which includes professional archaeologists and local people from the neighbouring village.
Pisidia Survey Project
Directors: Dr Mark Jackson (Newcastle University), Dr L. Vandeput (British Institute at Ankara) and Dr V. Köse (Hacettepe University, Ankara)
This multidisciplinary regional survey project examines Late Roman pottery production sites in southern Turkey. Students are trained in the surveying of sites and the collection and recording of ceramics.
This work requires students to collaborate as part of an international and multi-disciplinary team of professional archaeologists, surveyors and other specialists while they live abroad for a month. The project also provides excellent opportunities for students to visit some of the exceptional sites in the region of Antalya on the south coast of Turkey.
