Fieldwork Opportunities

The summer has a wealth of opportunities to get involved in fieldwork in Britain and Ireland. Here we list some of the best projects you can go on. We will continue to update this list as news of other fieldwork comes in.

Looking for a bit of inspiration? Why not try using the links below to get you started:

Dig for a Day ¦ Roman Digs ¦ Digs Suitable for Children ¦ Completely Free Digs


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Prehistoric | Bronze Age | Iron Age | Roman | Saxon | Medieval | Tudor | Jacobean | Post Medieval

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Free | Free (membership fee required) | £1-£25 | £26-£100 | £101-£250 | £251-£500 | £500+

Archeoscan

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Join Archeoscan on excavations in Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds.  The first excavation commences in April, and will focus on the excavation of a large Roman compound site in Gloucestershire. This project aims to discover the full footprint of the buildings and reveal the layout of the compound.

£40

Hanwell Park

Hanwell Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Join this year’s excavation of Hanwell Park, led by Polyolbion Archaeology. This year marks the final season of work at the site of the seventeenth-century garden pavilion: ‘The House of Diversion’ with its extraordinary collection of garden urns. Further areas of investigation will be opened within the park to further understand what the layout of the garden may have looked like, and to bring the site to life.

Free

Rocky Clump

Stanmer Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Discover past Prehistoric and Roman settlements of Sussex and join Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society excavating a late Iron Age and Early Roman site near Brighton. The site comprises an enclosure which contained structures, including a granary and a grain storage pit. This season, the excavation will move westwards examining a large pit dated to the Middle Bronze Age and features dated to the Iron Age and Roman periods.

Free

Romans in Kent Dig

Swale District Abbey Street, Faversham, United Kingdom

Excavate with Kent Archaeological Field School and discover Kent's Roman past. The training school offers a number of different dates and sessions, each with a different focus, exploring archaeological aspects of the Roman occupation of Britain.

Free

Petersfield Excavation

Petersfield Petersfield, Petersfield, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Liss Archaeology are continuing an exploration of an area near Petersfield with evidence for previously unknown Iron Age/ Romano-British artefacts and features. Training is available in all aspects of archaeology, including excavation, finds processing, sieving, soil analysis, recording, and drawing.

£8

Lindisfarne Finds Room

Holy Island, Northumberland Lindisfarne, Northumberland, United Kingdom

DigVentures is exploring the lost history of Lindisfarne, an important religious centre established by the Kings of Northumbria during the 7th-century. Lindisfarne is the site where where monks created the Lindisfarne Gospels, and where skilled artisans forged the treasures that adorned the altars of early Medieval Europe. Participants will be able to gain comprehensive experience in the full range of skills, knowledge and techniques that the finds team uses on-site.

£160

Topographic Survey Training Course

King John’s Palace Sherwood Forest, United Kingdom

Join Mercian Archaeological Services CIC and explore archaeology through GPS and Total Station methodologies. In archaeology, the ability to measure the location of a site, artefact, or earthwork is essential. This course will teach the required skills that are used on excavations and other sites for locating features using GPS and Total Station.

£350 – £450

Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Join DigVentures and unearth archaeology fit for a Queen at Sudeley Castle. There are important historical ruins buried in the grounds of the Castle; ruins that hold clues about Thomas Seymour and his love for Queen Catherine Parr, proof of a temporary palace built for Elizabeth I, traces of the power that upheld the Tudor throne, and evidence for the final destruction of Winchcombe Abbey.

£190

Post-Fieldwork Training School 2023

King John’s Palace Sherwood Forest, United Kingdom

This training school is designed to provide training and experience in various aspects of the post excavation process. The course provides experience in handling finds and developing the ability to look at artefacts critically with a view to recognising the clues that can help identify them and provide evidence of what they were used for. Participants will also learn basic archaeological GIS (Geographic Information Systems) including working with survey data, preparing maps, working with historic mapping, creating layouts and exporting data.

£350 – £450

Fordham Hall

Fordham Fordham, Essex, United Kingdom

Join the Colchester Archaeological Group (CAG) and Fordham Local History & Archaeological Society for an excavation at Fordham Hall, Essex.

Free

Introduction to GIS in Archaeology

King John’s Palace Sherwood Forest, United Kingdom

Join Mercian Archaeological Services and learn how GIS software can reveal different archaeological features and past landscapes. This training school is designed to provide an introduction to using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) using QGIS software for archaeology. Participants will work with survey data and learn how to create maps, vector layers geo-reference raster images, work with LiDAR data, create and work with 3D models, create layouts, and export data.

£250