Practical Aims and Methods in Archaeology

Module code: AR1009

This module will expand upon (and deepen your understanding of) the topics and issues covered in Archaeology: the essentials as well as provide greater practical experience of the archaeological techniques used in excavation, survey and post-excavation analysis. We will begin with some guidance on the structure and organisation of archaeology before considering the practicalities of archaeological research and study. You will gain hands-on experience in a range of practical techniques used to:

Locate archaeological sites
Understand their developmental history and biography
Date them
Contextualise them within their contemporary environments
And extract understanding from their material remains.

Topics covered

Key sites and key figures
Cultural Value: archaeology and the National Planning Policy Framework (PPG16, PPS5 and beyond)
Field-walking and remote sensing
Geophysical survey in practice
Thinking in a stratigraphic fashion
Relative dating
Absolute dating
Recording standing remains
Processing and interpreting environmental data
Archaeologies of archaeology: key themes revisited