A Day in the Life of an Archaeologist (Well … Almost…)

Alright, so technically I'm not working as an archaeologist, but I do have a degree in archaeology! I’m currently working as a student placement here at the Roman Baths. However, my work still involves archaeology, although I am not familiar with all the time periods and material I am now working with.

Carrying some Equipment around Englishcombe

Englishcombe was a Festival of British Archaeology event, hosted by the Roman Baths that took place back in July 2010. During the setup and activities many of us who are working here at the museum got the chance to work at an archaeology activity where we demonstrated the practice of archaeology by surveying the Wansdyke. We had all the proper tools and equipment and were taking measurements of the site, providing a demonstration, while answering visitor questions.

I was the lucky individual who got to help set up in the morning. We dragged all the equipment down to the site and used a bench mark (a point of known height) to set up our surveying equipment. This took quite some time because the area was rather hilly. We then set about creating a grid and line and began to take the measurements.

The Roman Baths hosts an event for the Festival of British Archaeology every year and bases the information on the location selected. This year the event was hosted in the Tithe Barn in Englishcombe so the event had a Medieval theme.

Keep an eye out for next years Roman Baths Festival of British Archaeology event!


Katrina Elizabeth