Education

• Archaeology and Palaeoecology (UG)
• Geography (UG)
• GAP Postgraduate Programmes
• Disability Officer
• Student Peer Mentoring

Module Content

This module is a practical course and students taking it will spend four weeks on a training excavation, working alongside members of the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork (CAF). They will be trained in excavation methodology; identifying, excavating and recording individual layers and features in the soil (archaeological contexts), relating the contexts to each other in a time sequence (stratigraphy), and the recording of associated artefacts. The location of the 2009 training excavation was at Dunluce Castle (see below). The location of the excavation for the 2010 module is not yet decided but students will be notified of this in April 2010.

Note: This module must be undertaken during summer 2010. The module will count as a Level 2 first semester course and so those students who undertake this module will only have to register for an additional two modules during Semester I in autumn 2010. As a Level 2 first semester module, however, students will not be informed of the final mark until February 2011 as the assessed work has to be approved by the External Examiner.

Module Objectives

On successful completion of the module the student will have developed:

• Practical understanding of fundamental archaeological issues (contexts & stratigraphy)
• Archaeological fieldwork experience
• Appreciation of the nature and function of the site under excavation, its landscape and environmental setting, and the research questions behind the excavation
• Appreciation of the excavation strategy and the context in which archaeological excavations are undertaken in Northern Ireland

Skills taught

• Archaeological fieldwork skills (excavation and recording)
• Teamwork and ability to take direction from supervisors
• Health and safety awareness

Lecturers

Dr Colm Donnelly (Convenor)
Dr Eileen Murphy

Assessment

2009 UG excavation at Dunluce, Co. Antrim

The 2009 student training excavation was undertaken at Dunluce Castle on the north Antrim coast. The dig was run over four weeks in June and July, in collaboration with the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Ulster, and supported by NIEA.

The excavation concentrated in the field adjacent to the castle where, as detected by geophysical and topographical surveys carried out earlier in the year by the CAF, lay the remains of a deserted post-medieval village, abandoned when it was destroyed by fire during the 1641 rebellion. The scale of the preservation was exceptional and students uncovered the complete outline of a merchant’s house including a hearth and cess pit, a cobbled street and a vast quantity of finds, including several medieval coins. A trench was also opened inside the manor house of the Castle where the foundations of an earlier building was discovered.