Medieval and Tudor field school, excavating on the site where Mary Queens of Scots was held prisoner in the 16th century. As well as excavation training, specialist field schools in human osteology, environmental archaeology, building survey and material culture are offered.

This field school is based in two beautiful Celtic countries: Ireland and the Isle of Man, which lies between Ireland and Britain. A programme of training in all aspects of graveyard survey will take place in Ireland at a variety of historic burial grounds. Students will then be transferred to the Isle of Man where excavation and geophysical survey training will take place at a multi period settlement site belong to the late prehistoric and early medieval periods. There are also visits to museums and sites of all periods from the Neolithic to historic.

The 2010 field season will take place again at the late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age flint mining settlement site at Piatra Tomii (Racatau village, Alba county). The research this year will investigate flint mining techniques used during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age as well as flint processing workshops at the settlement, particularly related to the methodology and equipment used by the Cotofeni people. Students will learn and practice topographic surveying, fieldwalking, general excavation methods, magnetometry surveying. At the camp site students will practice artefact drawing and pottery reconstruction methods.

Students will participate in the survey and excavation o f two Bronze Age sites in the Jadar Valley region of western Serbia. They will gain experience in GIS and TS plotting, cartography, artifact typology, survey and excavation techniques. Lectures, readings and site tours, community outreach and interaction enrich the field school experience. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

A brand new major archaeological project is currently seeking enthusiastic excavation volunteers to work in a part of the Roman frontier that includes Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site. The Binchester Roman Fort Excavation Project is excavating the fort and expansive town near Durham, located in one of the richest archaeological landscapes in the world. Covered periods include the prehistoric and Iron Age, the Roman occupation, and the early Medieval period including the origins of Arthur’s Britain. The project represents an international partnership between scholars at Stanford University (USA) and Durham University (UK). Volunteers will spend four weeks excavating, processing artifacts, and visiting key archaeological sites in this area of the Hadrian’s Wall frontier zone.

Fort Lewis College will again offer its six-week training course in field archaeology during the summer of 2010, under the direction of Mona Charles. Field work will be conducted at the Old Fort Lewis Campus near Durango, Colorado and at a prehistoric site along the Florida River, both in La Plata County. Intensive instruction in archaeological inventory, compass and tape mapping, Total Station mapping, remote sensing (electrical resistance and magnetometer), GPS and GIS, and limited excavations will be the focus of this six week field school. The field school is a required class in the Fort Lewis Anthropology Department's Cultural Resource Management certificate.
This is a wonderful opportunity for students to experience the rich prehistoric and historic heritage of Southwest Colorado while gaining knowledge and skills in field archaeology. A field trip is planned to visit archaeological ruins and rock art across the Four Corners and along the San Juan River in Southeast Utah.

Field school is 6 credits, and students will learn basic archaeological survey and excavation techniques. Focus is on obtaining information on site structure and organization of Fox Farm (15MS1), which was occupied in the Middle and Late Fort Ancient periods (AD 1100 to 1650). Fox Farm is one of the largest Fort Ancient sites, and it contains dense midden with excellent preservation of ceramics, bone, and carbonized botanical remains.

This summer we will continue our work at the Carson Mound Group (located in northwestern Mississippi), one of the largest prehistoric ceremonial centers in the Mississippi alluvial valley. The 1894 Cyrus Thomas map shows more than 80 mounds at the site, although only the largest remain today. Our continuing research goals include relocation of destroyed mounds, better understanding the complex site structure, and evaluating the nature of flood deposits that cover much of the site. Students will become familiar with the tools of archaeology, from trowels to gradiometers. There will be a strong emphasis on cutting-edge geospatial instruments, which we have successfully employed at this and other sites in the region.

This workshop is designed to provide a practical application of geophysical equipment and aerial photographic techniques available for the identification, evaluation, and ultimately, the conservation and protection of cultural resources. The field exercises associated with the course will concentrate on the application of these techniques to archeological investigations. Instruction will be given in the use, processing, and interpretation of data from magnetometers, conductivity meters, resistivity meters, ground penetrating radar, metal detectors, and magnetic susceptibility instruments and their applications to non-destructive subsurface investigations. The major emphasis of the training will be on the field use of the equipment. Instruction will also be offered in the use of and interpretation of aerial photographic techniques, and in the use of low altitude large scale aerial reconnaissance.