{"id":5007,"date":"2019-05-21T10:53:07","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T09:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2022-06-29T14:46:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T13:46:11","slug":"archaeology-excavation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/2019\/05\/21\/archaeology-excavation\/","title":{"rendered":"My Archaeology excavation experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey guys! I\u2019m Amy, a 1st Year Archaeology and Heritage student, and I’ve just finished a four-week excavation of a Roman town in Malton! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you didn\u2019t know, when you take any kind of Archaeology degree here at York you get four weeks of excavation experience that is paid for by the university<\/strong> (four days a week, for four weeks). If you\u2019ve ever looked into volunteering at a dig, you’ll know that it can cost thousands of pounds just so you can work for them. So to get a dig that\u2019s completely funded (apart from food and drink, you have to bring that yourself) is especially exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where we’re digging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Malton is a really interesting site and I\u2019m so happy to be working there, luckily it\u2019s exactly the type of thing I\u2019m interested in! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site is the vicus outside a Roman fort – a vicus is a settlement that grows up around a fort. Living there would be people such as the family of the soldiers and the merchants that provided for the fort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we’re looking for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The dig is in its fourth year and it concentrates mainly around the Roman road that runs through the surrounding fields and the fort itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the dig is to work out how the vicus changed as it got further away from the road. So, the trenches have been opened from either side of the road and are quite thin but move outwards through the (estimated) width of the settlement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t really report on what we\u2019ve found until the finds are published after work finishes at Malton and that could be years. But I can direct you to my blog<\/a> where I\u2019ve been talking about everything we\u2019ve found so far. Plus, some potential interpretations from these finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An amazing experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been amazing to work with the experienced professionals as well the lovely people on my course. Most people have never done anything like this before. So learning this skill for the first time, with a group of passionate and driven individuals, has been an incredible experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a heritage student, I spend a lot of time working with the public. Everyone who came to the site agreed that it was amazing and it\u2019s so fulfilling to be able to share this history with the people closest to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of my year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This dig has been the highlight of my year at York. For me, it has really cemented that this was the right course to take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions about the dig then please message me via my blog. I’ll leave you with some photos from the last four weeks… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Amy \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hard at work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A kiln? Oven? Robbers trench? <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Filming for heritage work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Caitlin the finds officer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It’s only offical if you have hi-vis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Giving a tour to the enthusiastic public.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our famous trench-cat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Working hard or hardly working?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The site before we started work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The ground reminding us where we are.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A typical collection of finds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Archaeology isn’t all troweling. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You might also like…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n