Monday 5 January 2015

Registrations now open for 2015 Dorchester fieldschools!

Now that we've recovered from Christmas' over-eating, registrations are open for the 2015 Discovering Dorchester fieldschools.

The undergraduate fieldschool runs for two weeks from Sunday 28th June - Friday 10th July.
The public fieldschools run for one week, and go from Sunday 12th July - Friday 17th July and from Sunday 19th July - Friday 24th July.

This year promises to be very exciting as we dig further down into the early 2nd century and 1st century layers of the Roman town. We will be continuing our excavation of the central road through the settlement, hoping for more dating information on the three different surfaces identified last year, and investigating how the road relates to the area directly to its west, a piece of prime real estate very near to the centre of the town. We will also be further exploring the complex series of ditches that run along the north side of the trench, and the early features through which they are cut that could further enlighten us as to the presence of the postulated early fort.

On both the undergraduate and public fieldschools you will be taught in small groups by experienced supervisors, learning skills in digging techniques, context recording, plan and section drawing, and geomatics. There will also be a series of lectures on various topics, given by staff from the Institute of Archaeology, including talks on animal osteology, the local pottery industry, the region through different periods, and archaeological photography.

If you would like more information on either the undergraduate fieldschool or the public fieldschools, please email edward.peveler@arch.ox.ac.uk.