It has been a busy year or two for UK archaeology. Huge infrastructure projects, great discoveries and generally good press.
Although, it’s not all good news. It may have gone quiet again but the government’s proposed new ‘white paper’ for housing and development is still lurking in the background with its somewhat worrying statements which make it unclear how archaeology will fit into the future of development (although my MP’s response to a letter I sent him was fairly positive where archaeology and heritage are concerned). There has also been a squeeze on archaeology courses, the A-level qualification is long gone and last year the archaeology departments of the University of Sheffield and the Chester University fought (and lost in the case of Sheffield) difficult battles against closure – this despite Sheffield’s being one of the best in the world. On the other hand, there are huge infrastructure projects, which require a phenomenal number of archaeologists to undertake excavation and preservation of heritage by record prior to construction actually beginning. As such there is a national shortage of archaeologists. One solution to this issue is to train new field archaeologists on the job. There has been resistance to this idea in the past. Most current archaeologists (both field and lab) have degrees, a large number have Master’s degrees and some have PhD’s before arriving as commercial field archaeologists. It’s not always the case, I’ve worked previously with a field archaeologist who had no qualifications whatsoever and learned everything about archaeology ‘on the job’. He wasn’t always the easiest to get on with, but damn, he knew stuff. I recall vividly phoning him at one point during a tough watching brief to ask what the hell I should do, because I knew he’d know the answer. As such, I’ve always been of the opinion that field archaeology, both theory and technique is something that is perhaps best learned on the job. That’s not to suggest in any way that an archaeology degree is pointless, just that it doesn’t always prepare us for the reality of commercial archaeology in the field and maybe some of us should think about being less snobby about it. I know I was lucky, I managed to do seasonal work on a university excavation every summer for six years before I got my first job in commercial archaeology (stupidly whilst I was still writing up my MA dissertation). Like my book character Suze, I was there at 15/16 spending every moment of those summers, (when I wasn’t working at Argos night shifts and weekends) learning how to do things. But even this didn’t prepare me for commercial archaeology. It needs to be done fast – none of this two weeks in the same ditch slot with a trowel stuff, and mattocks are tough to get to grips with when you’re 5ft dead, and built like a tiny ballerina. I learned more in my first year as a commercial archaeologist through trial and error and cocking things up, than I did on my uni sites (and I’m still learning every day how to do things better). Which is why I think structured learning on the job is a great way forwards, and if my recently graduated group of trainees are anything to go by then training on the job can and will produce skilled archaeologists who really understand how the field aspect of commercial archaeology works, in a much shorter space of time.
But the training was intensive! Oh, so intensive. Normally I’d be running a site but for three months (March-June 2020) I was working exclusively as a fieldwork trainer with new to sector trainees with zero archaeological background. We started with 10 fantastically enthusiastic trainees, five were assigned to myself and five to another trainer, although on the same site. And oh man, although only eight completed the course and stayed with us, they have blown us away with what they’ve achieved! The five that I was working with came from diverse backgrounds – one previously worked for television, one in costume design, one was an actress (she’s met Tom Cruise!), one was previously a geologist and one used to fit air conditioning units.
We were together for an intensive 12 weeks, working on a massive site, choc full of archaeology. It was (and still is) a phenomenal site and they are so lucky to have had such a start to their careers – I recall my first commercial site as a fairly barren evaluation in Stowmarket, but this one covered almost everything; several periods all overlapping, burials (both human and animal), structural remains, evidence of industry. Roman coins – hell, I was a supervisor before I found my first coin. I’d been working commercially for four years before I was able to excavate my first skeleton – one of my trainees was excavating a skeleton (under very careful supervision and with assistance) at the start of his second week! We were also trialling a new form of recording – all digital, which means that I was learning too and actually found myself at the point where they had to show me what to do. It was an absolute dream of a site to use for training. We had a few issues with the tools to begin with, as I said above mattocks are unwieldy if you’re small or simply not used to manual labour, which is why I keep a tool box full of a random assortment of digging implements, it’s not the size of your tool that’s important, it’s what you do with it! (yeah, know what I just said – take your mind out of the gutter!). Sure, we want everyone to be able to wield mattocks and shovels with the skill of a master zombie slayer, (Spovels* are better though), but until someone has built up the strength to use the big tools proficiently, the smaller ones are an excellent way to build confidence, and maintain a good work pace, meaning that people don’t feel like they’re falling behind or failing. A factor which is important for morale and keeping everyone invested in what we are doing.
Alongside field work we were also undertaking some really intensive classroom sessions. Each of these was a day long and endeavoured to explain everything from taking photos and drawing sections, to the differences between how we excavate rural sites and urban sites and all the types of post-excavation reporting that can be produced. The classroom sessions were the worst for me, I can impart wisdom and crack wise on site, and I’m more than happy to tell anyone the mistakes that I’ve learned from, or demonstrate the best shovel technique but give me a powerpoint to present and no matter how well I know the material I will suddenly find that I have less bones than a jellyfish and fewer brain cells than a senile goldfish. There were only five of them for goodness sake and by the time I did our first on site classroom session I knew them all well enough, but it didn’t stop me from nearly fainting twice and stammering my way through.
To be honest I wanted to write this blog to explain how I’d taught my trainees to excavate and record, how we’d worked through things and gradually built up their techniques. However, if I’m brutally honest with myself, I’m not so sure I did anything more than talk about archaeology and complain that I was hungry – (I was on break at 10:30 rather than the usual 10 and apparently that half hour with me pacing around site was like being circled by a hungry shark!).
However, all joking aside, my group of trainees worked really hard, listened to everything I and others on the site said and I know for an absolute fact that they were far better equipped, and understood far more about how commercial archaeology works than I did three months into my career. It could be that I worked at the wrong places perhaps, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt lost for the first few months or even years of their career. Other site staff who looked at the workbooks that we were using remarked that they would love to actually sit down and go through it, or sit in on the classroom sessions and revisit the basics. It is certainly worth it, heck, some of the things in their workbooks I didn’t know, especially where urban archaeology is concerned. (I’ve been in the job 14 years and I can count on one hand the number of urban sites I’ve done).
After the 3 month intensive session my little group was deemed worthy to be left to their own devices without a trainer constantly watching over their shoulder. For the next three months they were on their own, except for the site supervisors and sporadic visits from myself and the head of the training programme. By the time I went back our group of trainee staff were well integrated into the field team, checking records, logging finds, and actively participating in discussions with supervisors about the interpretation of not just their features, but whole areas of the site. Of the eight who still remain with us from that original group, most are now starting to ask how to progress their career, what they need to do to become supervisors or move into a specialisation in pottery or a specific period. It is so satisfying to see such enthusiasm to take what they have learned and build it into a career. I know some of them are hoping to be able to work with new trainee groups themselves eventually. This experience has reinforced my opinion that we can train good archaeologists on the job. Perhaps I was lucky with this group, they’d all had previous careers and know how the world works. Maybe it would have been different had they all been sixteen, who knows, but I think anyone with a genuine interest in archaeology will excel, and I look forward to taking everything that I’ve learned from the newest members of our site team and passing it on to others. With luck this will be a positive step towards making archaeology as a career more diverse, inclusive and accessible, which can ultimately only make it better. On a slightly more personal note I would like to thank my company MOLA for giving me the chance to be a field trainer and letting me spend 3 months of the year sharing my own enthusiasm for my job, my experiences, my skills, my random stories with our new archaeologists, to whom I should also extend thanks. They all worked really hard and I wish them a long and enjoyable career, may our paths cross again. There are currently no vacancies available on either our trainee or graduate courses, but keep checking back for more information here: https://www.mola.org.uk/about-us/work-us/early-careers *spovel – the unholy offspring of a spade and a shovel, flat like a spade, curved like a shovel, my weapon of choice, perfect for everything.
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S. M. PorterProfessional archaeologist and author, S. M. Porter loves history, adventure and digging in the mud. Her career is in ruins - just where she wanted it to be. Archives
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