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Advanced Fieldwork

Module description

You will develop more advanced fieldwork skills and have an opportunity to make more of an individual contribution to a non-department led excavation, demonstrating that you are capable of working competently with a lower level of supervision. In some circumstances you may also experience supervising or teaching others. You will need to undertake the practical fieldwork during the summer vacation.

You cannot take this module and ARC3006A (Advanced Fieldschool).

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will provide advanced practical experience of field archaeology work to students who have already gained basic competence of field techniques.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Gain advanced competence in various practical archaeological techniques and demonstrate an individual ability to correctly select techniques and strategies to fit context and aims of a project
• 2. Use appropriate archaeological terminology
• 3. Prepare primary data and deploy information from technical projects

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Write a technical report, deploying visual and written material
• 5. Interpret a variety of information forms and synthesise data from disparate sources
• 6. Critically assess the broader context of a project and reflect upon the success of the methods used in meeting aims

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Fulfil the role of an experienced member of a team within a hierarchical structure, and co-operate with and learn from peers
• 8. Experience a range of practical skills which have relevance in the wider world

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some the following:

• At least 3 weeks fieldwork on a compatible field-based project.
• A group seminar designed to allow students to discuss and reflect upon their experiences.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Cobb, H., Harris, O. J. T., Jones, C. and Richardson, P. (2012) Reconsidering Archaeological Fieldwork: Exploring On-Site Relationships Between Theory and Practice. New York: Springer.
• Lucas, G. (2001) Critical Approaches to Fieldwork: Contemporary and Historical Archaeological Practice. London: Routledge.
• Mytum, H. (ed) (2012) Global Perspectives of Archaeological Field Schools. New York: Springer.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11102

Key words search

Fieldwork, excavation