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Fieldwork Opportunities

Important... please read!

Fieldwork projects advertised on this website have been approved by the Fieldwork Tutor and have submitted risk assessments.  If you wish to attend another project you must:

  1. Check with the Fieldwork Tutor to see if the project will be approved.  Emailing the details is usually the best route for this.
  2. Contact the Administrative Assistant for Fieldwork, or the project directly, so that we can get a copy of their risk assessment for our files.

Unapproved projects will not be eligible for funding and will not count towards your 70 day requirement.

Around the Institute

The majority of staff projects available to students will be advertised on this website.  You may also:

  1. Consult staff who excavate - see the Staff pages on the web site for their specific areas of interest.
  2. Look at the Excavation Noticeboard in the basement.
  3. Check your emails!  Fieldwork opportunities are sent round regularly by email to all undergraduates.
  4. Check this website at regular intervals as new projects are added.
  5. For volunteering in museums and collections please ask for general and specific advice from Ian Carroll (IoA Collections)
  6. For Laboratory work please ask for general and specific advice from Thilo Rehren (metals); Dorian Fuller (seeds and plant remains); Louise Martin (animal bones); James Hales (conservation); Andrew Bevan (Geographical Information Systems and the AGIS Lab), Stuart Laidlaw (photography).

Literature

You can consult the CBA Briefing for excavations in Britain.

You can also consult Archaeology Abroad (Wendy Rix-Morton) for excavations abroad and country-specific Fact Sheets. Archaeology Abroad is published in April and October; subscription forms can be found in the Institute Foyer or from the Administrative Assistant for Fieldwork.  Copies of the booklet are available for reference from the Institute Library. You can become a member (2 editions a year) from the web page.

Finally, you can consult the Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin, published by the Archaeological Institute of America. Copies are available for reference from the Institute Library. Their web site allows you to search for fieldwork by country.

  1. Student finds fieldwork project they wish to attend
  2. Student fills out APPLICATION FOR (1) APPROVAL OF FIELDWORK/MUSEUM WORK/PRACTICAL WORK (2) GRANT (if applicable) (White Form) and has it signed by their Personal Tutor and the Fieldwork Tutor. The Fieldwork Tutor must approve the project in order for the student to have it count towards their fieldwork requirement
  3. Student passes this form on to Fieldwork Administrator for processing
  4. The student must also fill out an INSURANCE APPLICATION FORM, or PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR BEING INSURED, and also pass this on to the Fieldwork Administrator
  5. The Fieldwork Administrator must then check the form/s is/are complete, and enter the details into the Fieldwork Database
  6. Fieldwork Administrator makes copies of these forms and puts the copy of the White Form into the student's file; the original fieldwork application / grant forms are then given to the Financial Administrator (if the student is applying for a grant) in order to be processed. Cheques may take up to six weeks to arrive, so the student is advised to apply as early as possible
  7. If the student is taking out insurance with UCL, the original form must be sent off to UCL Financial Accounting – confirmation of insurance will be sent by email – and the copy, along with cheque for the required amount, must go to the Institute’s Financial Administrator
  8. The student must take with them a STUDENT FIELDWORK EXPERIENCE REPORT (Yellow Form) to be completed by the Project Director (or Supervisor) at the end of the student’s time on the project. This form must then be passed on, or sent, to the Fieldwork Administrator, who will enter the number of days the student worked on the project into the Fieldwork Database. Without submission of the Yellow Form the student will not be registered as having completed their fieldwork requirement
  9. Fieldwork Administrator passes Yellow Form on to Fieldwork Tutor, who will sign it off and return to the Fieldwork Administrator for filing (into student’s file)
  10. The student MUST fill in and submit a FIELDWORK REPORT FORM (Blue Form), which is signed off by the Fieldwork Tutor and archived by the Fieldwork Administrator
  11. The student may request to see and make copies of the Yellow Forms (see Fieldwork Administrator), but the originals must stay in their files

All forms are available from outside the Academic Administrator’s office (Room 411A), from the Fieldwork Administrator, or here.

Guide to the fieldwork forms

Fieldwork Approval and Grant Application form (The White Form) - Compulsory


What is it for?
What you would like to do and the money you need to do it.

Signatures needed

  1. Personal tutor
  2. Fieldwork Tutor


What you need to double check

  1. You have both signatures and you have completed section 1 and section 2 if necessary.
  2. Your address is correct and legible (otherwise cheque will go astray).


What happens to it?

  1. Details of the Fieldwork (days/ place/ dates) are entered into the ledger.
  2. If a grant is required, the form is sent to college (a copy is always kept in your student file). Grant money can take up to 6 weeks to come from College.

Director Feedback Experience Report (Yellow Form) - Compulsory

What is it for?
What you did when you were there and what they thought of you.

Signatures needed

  1. Project Director or Site Supervisor
  2. Fieldwork tutor when the form is returned

What you need to double check

  1. That you take a yellow form to each project and give to Project Director to complete for you.
  2. Check that you hand in/we receive yellow forms to cover your fieldwork requirement by the end of your 3rd Year.

What happens to it?

  1. The work that you have done on the project is checked.
  2. The days you have completed on each project are removed from the total amount of Fieldwork you are required to do during your degree.
  3. Completed Yellow Forms are used to compile references for you.

Student Feedback Form (The Blue Form) - Compulsory

What is it for?
Your report to us on the excavation / project that you attended.

Signatures needed
Yours.

What happens to it?
Information and comments you give are read by the Fieldwork Tutor/Administrator and utilised to evaluate projects for future students.

Your comments

If you find a project that you would recommend to others please tell the Fieldwork Tutor.

Important contact details

Tutor for Fieldwork Mark Roberts (mark.roberts@ucl.ac.uk  020 7679 7535, room 307).

Fieldwork Administrator Charlotte Frearson (c.frearson@ucl.ac.uk 020 7679 1494, room G4).

Academic Administrator Judy Medrington (j.medrington@ucl.ac.uk  020 7679 4777 room 412).

Important information for overseas travel

Foreign and Commonwealth Office web site Country Pages. www.fco.gov.uk

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