Out in the field (and not in the office!)

This week I ‘escaped’ from the office for a few hours to visit the Pond Farm excavations (see blog post from the 12th August). Thank you to Cathie Barnett and Nick Pankhurst for giving us a tour of the Pond Farm site.

ABOUT POND FARM HILLFORT – ‘The summit of the hill at The Frith was once protected all the way round by a huge man-made bank and ditch. Today areas of the bank still rise 2.5 metres above ground but were likely much higher in the past. The southern portion of the hillfort defences have been levelled in recent centuries and can no longer be seen on the ground. However, traces of the bank and ditch there are still visible occasionally as cropmarks and using geophysical surveys. You could once only have entered the interior through one or two restricted and probably fortified entranceways. It is believed to have been built in the Iron Age, around 2000 or more years ago but there is no firm evidence yet to confirm this.’

You can keep up to date with progress at Pond Farm and Silchester Insula III by following the Archaeology Facebook and Twitter pages.

You can visit both sites from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4.30pm. They are not open weekends except Sunday 13th September. If you intend to come in a larger group please let them know in advance: j.e.eaton@reading.ac.uk so they can welcome and accommodate everyone. Please be aware that parking at Little Heath car park for Pond Farm is severely limited so do share a lift or arrange drop offs there or at Little Cottages. Access to Pond Farm is on foot via permitted paths (shown on the map) by kind permission of the Englefield Estate. It’s a pleasant and relatively easy, approx 10 minutes walk within Benyon’s Enclosure up to the hillfort but may not be suitable for everyone. Cycling is not allowed.
For Silchester Insula III please park in the public car park and follow the footpath to the Roman town and the excavation. For directions to Silchester Roman Town public car park visit: reading.ac.uk/silchester. You will be able to see the archaeologists at work on both sites but there will also be finds and environmental processing going on at Insula III. For safety reasons there will be strictly no access to the trenches themselves but you will be able to see them being excavated. There will also be a Public Open Day at the end of the dig at both excavations, on Sunday Sept 13th 10-4.30pm.

Below are a few photographs from the visit:

Back in fieldwork clothes and prepared for rain!

Back in fieldwork clothes and prepared for rain!

 

Entrance to the Pond Farm site - lost of information for interested visitors to read.

Entrance to the Pond Farm site – lots of information for  visitors.

Just one area being excavated on the site

Just one area being excavated on the site

Excavations in action - this is before the rain started!

Excavations in action – this is before the rain started!

A close up view of one of the trenches

A close up view of one of the trenches

Quest (Dan and Rob) percussion coring in a reed covered (wetter), approximately circular area towards the boundary of the field.

Quest (Dan and Rob) percussion coring in a reed covered (wetter), approximately circular area towards the boundary of the field.

Cathie standing on top of the Iron Age bank

Cathie marking out the top of the bank

Cathie explaining the next stage of excavations in this area - this could be the most exciting area!

Cathie explaining the next stage of excavations in this area – this could be the most exciting area yet!

Silchester 2015 Archaeological Excavations at Insula III – Silchester & Pond Farm Hillfort 17th August – 13th September

Excavations are taking place at Insula III – Silchester & Pond Farm Hillfort.  More information from Cathie Barnett (Research Manager, Silchester Post Excavation and Calleva Environs Iron Age Projects) below:

WHO CAN VISIT AND WHAT IS THERE TO SEE?
Everyone is welcome! You can visit us Monday to Friday on either of the sites between 10am and 4.30pm. We are not open weekends except Sunday 13th September. If you intend to come in a larger group please let us know in advance: j.e.eaton@reading.ac.uk so we can welcome and accommodate everyone. Please be aware that parking at Little Heath car park for Pond Farm is severely limited so do share a lift or arrange drop offs there or at Little Cottages. Access to Pond Farm is on foot via permitted paths by kind permission of the Englefield Estate. It’s a pleasant and relatively easy, approx 10 minutes walk within Benyon’s Enclosure up to the hillfort but may not be suitable for everyone. Cycling is not allowed. For Silchester Insula III please park in the public car park and follow the footpath to the Roman town and the excavation. For directions to Silchester Roman Town public car park visit: reading.ac.uk/silchester
You will be able to see our archaeologists at work on both sites but there will also be finds and environmental processing going on at Insula III. For safety reasons there will be strictly no access to the trenches themselves but you will be able to see them being excavated. There will also be a Public Open Day at the end of the dig at both excavations, on Sunday Sept 13th 10-4:30pm.’

Silchester site from above

Silchester site from above

My Fieldwork Experiences: From Reading to Reading.

My current position in the Archaeology Department involves being largely chained to a desk. However, in the preceding 12 years fieldwork was a daily reality for me as I worked for Commercial archaeological companies. I hope to outline some of the fieldwork experiences I have had below without it reading too much like a personal statement for a job application.

 

 
Like so many archaeologists plying their trade today, my first real experience of fieldwork was a training season at the Silchester Town Life Project in the summer of 1999. I had archaeology A-level and had carried out a couple of weeks digging at Colchester in 1997 so was not entirely new to the trowel, yet the 4 weeks spent in that field in Hampshire cemented in my mind that digging holes was something I was always going to do.

Silchester in 1999. Shallow.

Silchester in 1999. Shallow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On completing my undergraduate degree I began working with Oxford Archaeology, a company I was to work with for a further six years. It was with OA that I worked on a number of infrastructure projects such as the Channel tunnel rail link in Kent and the expansion of Heathrow with the construction of Terminal five.

 

Pete and me at Terminal Five……It was this nice.

Pete and me at Terminal Five……It was this nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Projects on the scale of an airport expansion can make you feel like a pretty small cog, with the huge amounts of machinery, noise and not to mention aircraft. It was also sometimes difficult to focus on the Bronze Age ditch I was digging when Concorde was taking off in the background. Every time I fly from Heathrow I reminisce about several of my trowels that lie forever buried beneath the concourse….
After seven or so years of commercial archaeology I realised that I should probably attempt working somewhere more exotic that required less high visibility clothing. The opportunity presented itself with the WF16 project at the magnificent Wadi Faynan in the Jordanian desert.

Standing on a high rock on the site at WF16 in Jordan.

Standing on a high rock on the site at WF16 in Jordan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was prepared as well as I could be with sun cream, mosquito repellent and multiple jabs, yet nothing could have prepared me for the incredible landscape and archaeology I was to experience. Excavating 10,000 year old mud walled structures surrounded by mountains, Bedouin tents and many, many goats was far removed from the world of commercial archaeology I’d temporarily left behind. It was an equally eye opening experience getting to know the local Bedouin workmen. Watching the moon rise over Wadi Ghuwayr while drinking tea with Ali and Abdullah is something I won’t forget in a hurry.

Making tea the Bedouin way in Wadi Hammam Jordan

Making tea the Bedouin way in Wadi Hammam Jordan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the next few years I participated in a project in Crete excavating a Late Minoan mountain top settlement at Karfi, a few weeks digging a Roman iron working site Austria and a five weeks of hellish northern French winter excavating an Iron Age settlement in Brittany. Subsequently I’ve also been involved with the Hebridean projects co-ordinated by Professor Steve Mithen, working on Islay, Mull and Gigha. The Mesolithic site at Rubha Port an t-Seilich on Islay, overlooking the sound to Jura is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been let alone worked.

Packing up after a day digging on the mountain in Karfi Crete. We carried that lot down…

Packing up after a day digging on the mountain in Karfi Crete. We carried that lot down…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recording Mesolithic occupation on Mull.

Recording Mesolithic occupation on Mull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the site on Islay over to Jura.

The view from the site on Islay over to Jura.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning to the less glamourous world of commercial archaeology, the most challenging fieldwork project I co-ordinated was for the widening of the A11 in Suffolk. This was composed of numerous sites extending over 11km and was subject to strict deadlines. Despite the regularly stressful day to day of such a project I really enjoyed working with a talented team of archaeologists and responding to the often leftfield demands of the construction managers. Could I just move everyone from the carefully timetabled excavation areas to dig the bit they want to stick an oversized newt tunnel through….of course I can.

Excavating a late Medieval tile kiln in Hertfordshire.

Excavating a late Medieval tile kiln in Hertfordshire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my commercial career, Silchester was a permanent summer fixture (to the possible annoyance of my employers). Over the fifteen seasons I attended, supervised and finally co-ordinated I had the hugely rewarding task of teaching students and volunteers the techniques of excavation and recording. Witnessing people who were so shy they could barely speak develop confidence over a few weeks to work as part of the team was always amazing as was witnessing students eventually returning as staff member and passing on their learning. Seeing the trench I cumulatively spent the best part of two years in backfilled last summer was a very strange experience.
And now I find myself back in the Archaeology department working for the very project that kick started the whole process. In a few months I embark on a new phase of excavation at Pond farm, just outside Silchester and with knowledge of what’s gone before await the trials, tribulations and (fingers crossed) excitements to come.

 

NickPankhurst_wA bit about today’s blogger:  Nick Pankhurst

Nick works as Project Assistant for Silchester Town Life project, combining overall site supervision for the field school and post-excavation analysis of the late Iron Age and Early Roman stratigraphy. He has participated in the field school since his first year as a Reading undergraduate in 1999 and as staff member since 2001.

Prior to his current role, Nick worked for 12 years with commercial archaeological units in Oxford and Cambridge. During this time he co-ordinated numerous rural and urban excavations including projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5, the A11 widening in Suffolk and in Winchester, Cirencester and Oxford. He has also supervised on research projects in Jordan, Crete and Austria and worked on excavations in the Hebrides and northern France.

 

Digging for Britain

On 3rd February BBC 2 broadcast ‘Digging for Britain’ – ‘Professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Matt Williams present 2014’s most outstanding archaeology. In the summer, archaeologists have been unearthing our history in hundreds of digs across Britain. They have gone to extraordinary lengths to uncover long lost treasures – retelling our story in a way only archaeology can.

Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology, joining up the results of digs and investigations the length of the country

Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology, joining up the results of digs and investigations the length of the country

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this episode, we’re in the east of Britain. Sites include:

Must Farm: The Cambridgeshire site is called the Pompeii of the Bronze Age and gives an unparalleled glimpse of life 3,000 years ago.

Colchester: Roman treasure hidden as Queen Boudicca rampaged through the town.

Oakington: Burial rituals revealing the secrets of Anglo-Saxon childbirth.

Lyminge: Investigating a mysterious Anglo-Saxon royal hall.

Basing House: Examining the final days of this 16th-century Tudor complex.

Silchester: Important Roman finds from the longest-running archaeological dig in the country tell of the Emperor Nero’s personal involvement.

You can still watch this episode here –http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b051htk1/digging-for-britain-series-3-1-east

Keep a look out for Gabor Thomas and Alex Knox at Lyminge, as well as Mike Fulford, Amanda Clarke, Nick Pankhurst and Sarah Lambert-Gates at Silchester (Amanda, Nick and Sarah – are voices behind the camera!)

 

Gender and Fieldwork

On my first morning of working in the trench at Silchester I donned my dungarees, dinosaur t-shirt and bright pink wellies, then my best friend Emily and I marched out onto site with our trowels and a feeling of consternation about what on earth we were doing. Within a few days the two of us had settled in to the swing of things and finally given up our futile effort of keeping everything we owned clean. The guys on the dig seemed to take to the dirt a lot quicker than us, but in the end we accepted our muddy fate. By the end of the 4 weeks the two of us were barely recognisable with matted sun-dyed hair, mud-ridden clothes and a lackadaisical desire to sit outside with bottles of cider. The glamorous transformation into archaeologists had begun and we would never be the same again.

Nearly 3 years have now passed since that first day of digging and my experiences as a woman working in archaeology have, on the whole, proven to be extremely positive, with open-minded attitudes and equal opportunities for all; not only with regards to gender but also life-style, interests and personal choices. Everyone is accepted, partly because we all share the same love for digging up old things from the dirt (a love which many of my non-archaeology friends will never comprehend). However as I have found out, this equality is not the case across the whole board of academic excavations, and I am hoping that any gender-driven discrimination is brought to light, because the image of women in archaeology should ultimately mirror that of men.

Lizzie 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have spent my last three summers working at Silchester, and with such a large influx of students and volunteers, a great range of diversity hit the scene every season. Men and women of differing ages and backgrounds gathered together from all over the UK and beyond with a shared interest in archaeology. The best thing about working at Silchester was that even though there were so many different people, there was never a hint of discrimination, and it only took a few days for a muddy micro-community to take form. Similarly, last summer I excavated on the Isles of Scilly with a mixed group of people of different ages and gender. Although a lot smaller in comparison to Silchester, Scilly was the same in that everyone shared a mixture of tasks, some physically demanding and others less so. The group spirit of the field team was so strong that we all dined and explored together in the evenings and on our days off, and one night we even had a novel beach barbeque in a wheelbarrow. Even in times of crisis -such as when I lost a fight with a Neolithic stone- the group came together to help each other out. To be honest at both Silchester and Scilly gender issues never really crossed my mind, as everyone pulled together to get the work done.

Lizzie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, my experiences elsewhere have not always been so positive. On another excavation undertaken overseas in 2013 I found myself and close archaeology companion Lorna being constantly given tasks such as planning and finds processing, and generally being held back from undertaking any serious physical activity. We were rarely allowed to carry heavy loads or equipment back from site, whilst the men struggled under the weight of it all. Admittedly at the end of the first hot day digging I took this as a blessing, however I soon began to realise that I wanted to play an equal role and that those in charge obviously believed we were less capable of manual labour. As a result the two of us took it upon ourselves to show off our muscles and dig like we’d never dug before. Therefore there is definitely room for improvement in some attitudes, and I wholeheartedly believe that men and women each have their own personal strengths and weaknesses regardless of their gender. Nevertheless my experiences in the field have generally been very positive, and I have met such a fantastic mix of people in every case.

Now that University has sadly ended, I have noticed that a number of my female friends have gone on to do postgraduate study or are pursuing other forms of archaeology or heritage jobs, whilst many of my male friends have entered into the world of commercial field-work. I don’t think that this pattern is a reflection of any type of inequality within the sector, but more a reflection of personal choice and preferred working environment. As for me; I am currently working in Finds Processing but I know that one day soon I will don my steel toe caps once more and be reunited with the ancient soils.

 

Lizzie Raison

Lizzy Raison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lizzy Raison. A bit about today’s blogger – Since finishing my degree in Archaeology and History at Reading I have been all over the shop trying to get heritage and archaeology work under my belt. Last summer I went to work at Silchester as an Environmental and Database Assistant, before taking part in the Neolithic excavation on the Isles of Scilly. I then worked for the National Trust up until Christmas in an unpaid conservation role, which gave me fantastic experience in the day to day running of a historic property. Plus I got to live in a POW hut in the eerie estate woodland for three months, which was an adventure in itself. Since the New Year I have been working as a Finds Processor at Cotswold Archaeology, which has so far proved to be a great job. The people are lovely, there’s tea on tap and most importantly I find myself learning something new every day.

 

Trowelblazing Part 2: A career in the field – Amanda Clarke

Glass half empty? Fieldwork is uncomfortable – let’s be honest about it. We are usually stuck in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere – nothing convenient about that. And talking of convenient – one of the first tasks I ALWAYS do, regardless of whether on a 2-day geophysics escapade or a 6-month road scheme, is to work out the toilet arrangements. That may sound trivial – but believe me to women on fieldwork – and probably some men too – the proximity of the nearest convenience is what it is all about! clarke1And then there is the weather……a never ending topic of conversation in any site hut. But the weather IS all important…too much of it and you are destined to sit in a pool of mud for days on end, vainly searching for context differences; not enough and you are consigned to digging soil set like concrete whilst vainly trying to keep the sun off your neck and the back of your knees. My most dreaded and unlooked for Silchester experience was planning what to do with 130 people during a rainy day….25 people sent to work on Finds, 10 people to the Science hut, 15 people to work on site records – that still leaves over 60 people thumb twiddling in a leaking marquee. Other fieldwork challenges: earwigs in tea and tent; learning to live with the feeling that you are actually sharing your one-person tent with 78 other people (who all snore), never finding anything in ‘your’ patch on site, and a dawning comprehension that there are at least a dozen different ways to effectively remove dirt.

 

And from our foreign correspondent I love that moment when you step off a ‘plane into a new culture, a new environment – a new archaeology. Never let the fact that you may not be familiar with the material culture and archaeology and history of (say) Belize stop you! I believe that once you have been (properly) taught the basics of excavation and recording (as we do at Silchester) – then the world is literally your archaeological oyster. You can dig anywhere – and see the world. And this is what I did – Lebanon, Central America, St. Kilda, Minorca, Jamaica. Setting up Field Schools – and working – abroad can be exceptionally challenging. It can take a while to find your routine and to become comfortable enough in the new environment to enjoy the archaeology. It is hard to experience the thrill of archaeological discovery for example when working amongst the worlds’ deadliest snakes. I once spent 2 weeks being observed on a daily basis by a python in a tree overhanging the trench – an experience which concentrated the mind beautifully. Luckily it had just eaten. Showering in a jungle with my boots on to avoid scorpions and baby snakes can also temper enjoyment. But, the archaeological excitement will and can balance out any negativity, and without a doubt the best field archaeologists I have ever encountered have been the local workmen who can disentangle stratigraphy with their teeth and create a work of art out of a trowelled surface.

 

clarke2Team Silchester The success of the Silchester Field School is based on team and community spirit. People just seemed to love it. I pride myself on the quality of teaching we delivered, and also on our high standard of excavation and recording, regardless of external time pressures. My supervisors were amongst the best in the world; and most of them started their adult lives as students at the Department of Archaeology at Reading, and subsequently at the Silchester Field School. It is a legacy to be proud of. However I cannot claim any credit for the juggernaut that is the Field School – I simply facilitated it each and every year. The head of successful steam was entirely built up by people who loved it, benefited from it personally and professionally, spread the word, and wanted to return year after year. Every dig has its fans of course, but an 18 year excavation inspires a special kind of devotion.

 

The Transformers And the Field School did literally change the lives of many people. Some of my most inspiring – and humbling – moments have been watching tentative, socially fragile students develop from pale, shrinking mud-averse undergraduates to confident, tanned, trowel-wielding individuals who build up social networks they will retain forever, and develop a rainbow of skills which will carry them through life. Not bad for a hole in the ground!

 

Blank Page In my book, fieldwork is the beginning of it all – that first tentative clarke3sentence of a whole chapter of new research, the beginnings of a love of all things outdoors, the start of diverse skills and adventures. Nothing can ever quite match the excitement of uncovering a swirl of gravel, bounded by linear ditches, which turns out to be part of a hitherto unknown and only guessed at Iron Age street layout – its discovery giving a tantalising glimpse into the organisation of a long ago way of life. Fieldwork is the very first booted steps which will echo down the centuries – and how many things can you say that about? Many archaeology books published pay homage to that very first day of putting the boot in, putting the trowel in…..lifting the turf on Day 1 may allow a glimpse 10 years hence to a 5* publication hot off the press. It’s a wonderful motivator!

 

Bullseye Fclarke4ieldwork is a darts board of possibilities. A big project like Silchester has room for everyone. The most important people on any project are by no means the Directors….no, it is all about the people who dig, who uncover, who wash and scrub the artefacts, who fill bag after bag of soil, who stand with their hands in cold water day in and day out, microscopically tweezering out evidence for past lives, who communicate daily discoveries to our visitors (one of the huge successes of our Field School). But fieldwork also celebrates the (possibly) less glamorous jobs…..the site manager who picks up the litter, rescues crisp packets from food recycling bins, recovers lost mobile phones from the innards of portaloos, drives the vehicles, looks after the stores and equipment….the cook who sweats over a hot portakabin to produce meals which don’t touch the sides on the way down, and are never enough…..the project assistant who lovingly crafts the spaghetti junction lists and rotas for who does what day in, day out. A dig is a kaleidoscope of opportunities.

 

clarke5(Earth) Worm wisdom And if I can leave prospective fieldworkers with some advice? Firstly, just because you are in a field in the middle of nowhere does not mean that style goes out of the window along with personal hygiene. Secondly, wear layers, cherish your waterproof trousers and always have a clear sight of the portaloos. Thirdly, remember that all fieldworkers are an equal and important part of the project and always make time for everyone. And smile. And fourthly and finally – remember – it’s just a dig. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

 

clarke6

 

Trowelblazing Part 1: A career in the field

Amanda Clarke, our very own trowelblazer

Amanda Clarke, our very own trowelblazer

The Final Context How very rare it is to have the satisfaction of starting something…and then finishing it! I have worked on countless excavations since I began my fieldwork career…many I joined half way through, some I left half way through. Each was memorable in their distinctive way – but nothing quite matches up to my experience on the Silchester Field School. I began this in June 1997 with a JCB and a handful of excavators – and I finished 18 summers later in August 2014, with 130 excavators, a fleet of JCBs and dumpers, a barn full of finds and samples, 16,303 units of stratigraphy recorded – and a tearful Professor. What kind of journey has it been? (scroll down for some photos!)

Childhood ambition? I have always loved being in the field, and my job as Director of the Silchester Field School at the University of Reading has allowed me to combine this passion with a desire to teach the few things I know, and the chance to develop my managerial and organisational skills in ways I never dreamed possible….

Trowelblazing As a woman in fieldwork I have always taken the attitude that there is nothing I cannot do. My early days in commercial archaeology toughened me up quickly – leading an archaeological watching brief on the site of a multi-million pound multi-storey car-park on a cold December morning in the middle of York, surrounded by a team of hardened contractors intent on getting their job done – was a baptism of fire indeed. Women in site supervisory positions were a rarity in the 1990’s when I was leading teams…..there were women running the finds hut, the environmental aspects, the drawing office ….but outside in the crisp York air I was in a male dominated environment. I have always fought against any kind of ‘gender divide’ on my project teams – but that division does still cast a shadow. Sadly it is a self-perpetuating stereotype….trench work is often seen as ‘physical,’ mattock-wielding, trowel twirling work, whereas finds are all about housekeeping ‘pretty things’….still. 18 years of running the Silchester Field School gave me the opportunity to challenge these preconceptions and actually do something about them. And now that I have just finished running the biggest, boldest, brightest excavation on and in British soil (no bias showing here) – I am pleased to say I feel the scales tipping. In the final Silchester season 58% of participants were women, the majority of my Silchester Supervisors have been women, and the Department has an excellent track record of our female graduates working in commercial archaeology. It’s a good feeling.

Team Tactics Running the Silchester Field School has never been hard for me. Yes of course it is challenging in terms of sheer numbers of hours in the field, and on some of those days when nothing goes right…..the portaloo emptying lorry is stuck in the mud, half the students have a crippling summer cold, the site wifi has dissipated, a dozen tents have blown over, the pump for draining the water from a well under excavation has choked and stopped, 125 unbooked in visitors have arrived for a tour, I can’t find my coffee mug and context 14725 is not where I would like it to be stratigraphically…..But I instinctively know how to make it all work…..it is simply about the teams and the working environment you create. And the rest just follows. The archaeology may be a repetitive mix of wafer thin gravel layers – but it is still possible to teach and learn, to inspire and aspire.

Opportunity Knocks I love digging, I love excavations – wherever and whatever they may be – and my desire to communicate this passion can verge on the intimidating! I believe that attending an excavation is a life-altering experience – and everyone should try it at least once. My goal is to demonstrate that regardless of age, gender, skill, ability, aptitude, there are many many different experiences and opportunities an excavation can offer – something for everyone. Never think ‘I can’t’ – always think ‘how can I’.

 

Last day on the Silchester site

The final Silchester site tour

Challenge Amanda!

Challenge Amanda!

Some of our other trowelblazers!

Some of our other trowelblazers!

The Silchester Field School campsite

The Silchester Field School campsite

Working as a team: celebrating 10 seasons on site

Working as a team: celebrating 10 seasons on site

More to come from Amanda next week in Part 2!

Field archaeologist and trowelblazer!

Field archaeologist and trowelblazer!

A bit about today’s blogger: Amanda Clarke is a field archaeologist appointed by Reading University to help train its students in all aspects of field archaeology. She is Site Director for the Department of Archaeologys training excavation at the Roman town of Silchester, and for fieldwork in Pompeii, Italy. When not in the field she is involved in the post-excavation work for these projects. She has spent many years in the field, on sites all over the world including Norway, Beirut, Jamaica, Belize and the northern and western isles of Scotland. She has worked most recently for York Archaeological Trust on many of their large urban sites, as well as directing two seasons of work on the early Christian site of Whithorn in Galloway. She also works as a Teaching Fellow for the Department of Archaeology at Boston University on the student training excavations in Belize, Central America.