Liverpool Archaeology Field School
Our Liverpool Archaeology Field School takes place for two weeks after the summer examinations in Year 1 of our programmes, just before the end of term. Students are already staying in their term-time accommodation, and the practical teaching and learning takes place on campus and on a research and training excavation reached by minibus.
Little Crosby Park
Little Crosby Hall has been occupied by members of the same family since the 13th century. Little Crosby Park around the current house has a rich heritage which is the subject of a long-term collaborative research programme. Students are taking a central role in the programme, examining previously neglected aspects of this landscape. These include now-demolished estate buildings, changes in the field systems, and examining sites identified by aerial photography and other forms of survey.
Many historic house landscapes have been researched using maps and other documents, but few have received attention by having excavation at a number of locations to augment and clarify the historical sources. Our students are gaining practical skills whilst uncovering new evidence for our past.
Our aims
The aim of the Field School is to provide first-year Liverpool undergraduates with the training and guided learning that they need, whatever period or part of the world they are primarily interested in, through the following activities:
- Stratigraphy and formation processes
- Matrices
- Single-context excavation
- Recording
- Archaeological photography
- Drawing plans and sections
- Environmental sampling/processing
- Finds processing/conservation
- Geophysics and scientific analysis
- Topographic survey
- Finds illustration
- Heritage communication.
Second and third-year undergraduate and postgraduate students can also gain experience, and some can develop their interests and responsibilities in those aspects of fieldwork in which they have particular interests. We are committed to progression and career development for our students, and the fieldwork develops many employability skills including teamwork, timekeeping, working to a goal, precision and accuracy, and communication.
Inclusivity
We abide by the Higher Education Academy’s good practice guidelines for inclusive fieldwork training and we are committed to dignity at work and study. If you have any issues related to either of these areas around fieldwork, please contact Jane Stockley, our fieldwork coordinator.