We offer a variety of archaeology weeks that enable you to choose the school most suited to your needs.

These include (coded by colour):




 










Training Courses in archaeological surveying, geophysics, GIS and more.

‘Training Excavations’ focused more on teaching, and learning, digging, and recording techniques.

‘Training Field School’ experience; covering a wider variety of topics and skill-sets, including excavation, drawing, context sheets, surveying, levelling, recording, ceramics lectures and more

Post-fieldwork and “Specialist Training”


Archaeological Field Schools and Training Courses

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Week 1: 1st - 5th July

Week 2: 8th - 12th July





#weldig

Welby Archaeological Training Excavation, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
5 day course


24th - 28th June



#

Welby Excavation Week,
near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
5 day event

*Only available to previous field school delegates (see top of page)

Week A: 22nd - 26th July
Week B: 29th July - 2nd Aug
Week C: 5th - 9th Aug
Week D: 12th - 16th Aug



#sffs

The Sherwood Forest Archaeological
Training Field School, Nottinghamshire
5 day course

Mercian Excavation Weeks

The Sherwood Forest Excavation week, Nottinghamshire
5 day event

*Only available to previous field school delegates (see top of page)


August

19th - 23rd  



Mercian Excavation Weeks

Bainbridge Excavation week,
Wensleydale, Yorkshire
5 day event

*Only available to previous field school delegates (see top of page)

#baindig

Bainbridge Archaeological Training Excavation , Wensleydale, Yorkshire
5 day course

September

9th - 13th , 16th - 20th



September

 22nd - 27th



October

7th - 11th


October

21st - 25th

November

6th - 8th

#toposurv

Topographic Survey Training course in Sherwood Forest
5 day course

#gis

Introduction to GIS in Archaeology
3 day course

#postfield

Post-Fieldwork Training School, King John’s Palace, Nottinghamshire
5 day course

Course details:



Archaeological Training Excavation:

This course is suitable for all levels from beginner to experienced digger.

This training course focuses on the skills of archaeological excavation. You will receive training and experience in many techniques of excavation, including many Core Skills listed in the Archaeological Skills Passport:

Handtools (Trowel etc), Handtools (Spade, Mattock etc), Site Formation Processes, Stratigraphic Excavation, Context Sheet Recording, Site Photography, Dumpy Level and Staff, Archaeological drawing, Artefact Recovery, Recording & Storage, Site Safety.

This training course focuses on excavation and recording skills but there will also be a chance to undertake a number of techniques that make up the Secondary Skills of the Archaeology Skills Passport including:

Finds Processing.

All techniques are taught and experienced throughout the week, a mixture of classroom sessions and hands on training from our Archaeological experts.


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.



Join Mercian Archaeological Services CIC in the beautiful Leicester countryside for this week-long training excavation, which focuses on the teaching of archaeological excavation methods.


As well as offering the very best in archaeological training and support, this training excavation is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil requirements of the Archaeological Skills Passport.


Archaeological Skill Passport

The Deserted Village of Welby is situated 3km to the north-west of Melton Mowbray town-centre, off the Nottingham Road (A606), in North Leciestershire.


The site “sits within a historically rich landscape with close proximity to prehistoric and Romano-British activity that could extend within the area of the site.”

The site sits a few miles north of the Historic market town of Melton Mowbray.

“Melton Mowbray is a town in Leicestershire, England, 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Leicester, and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye and the River Wreake and has a population of 25,554. The town is well known for a culinary speciality, the Melton Mowbray pork pie, and as the home of one of the six licensed makers of Stilton cheese. Melton Mowbray is sometimes promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food".

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melton_Mowbray)


weldig

2024 Dates:

Week 1: 1st - 5th July

Week 2: 8th - 12th July







Discover King John's Palace free excavation

Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

Sherwood Forest Archaeological Training
Field School 2024

at King’s Clipstone.

Price £450 per person, or £350 per student (in full time education 18 and under, Student NUS card holder or international equivalent*, Distance Learning etc)

Archaeological Training Field School:


This course is suitable for all levels from beginner to experienced digger.

We cover the Core Skills of the Archaeological Skills Passport:

Handtools (Trowel etc); Handtools (Spade, Mattock etc); Site Formation Processes; Stratigraphic Excavation; Context Sheet Recording; Site Photography; Site Grid and Trench Layout;; Dumpy Level and Staff; Planning; Section Drawing; Site Safety;

And we also provide lessons in:

Finds Processing; Pottery identification; Finds handling; Finds processing; History of Ceramics lectures and much more…

Field Days include a lunchtime sandwich.

The Sherwood Forest Archaeology Training Field School focuses on the medieval hunting lodge and palatial enclosure of the King’s Houses, now known as King John’s Palace, and the designed landscape that surrounded it.

King John’s Palace was the Royal Heart of Sherwood Forest in the Medieval period.

The site was visited by all 8 kings from Henry II to Richard II, with King John possibly holding a proto-parliament there in the early 13th century and Edward I holding Parliament there in 1290.

As part of the field school attendees will have the opportunity to learn all about Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, outlaws, foresters, the landscape of Sherwood Forest in medieval times, the forest law, courts, offences and judiciary, the Palace at Clipstone, monasteries, chapels and hermitages, hunting parks, Nottingham Castle , Sheriffs and much much more about life in Medieval Sherwood Forest…

SFFS


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

Archaeology Field School Sherwood Forest



2024 Dates:

Week A: 22nd - 26th July

Week B: 29th July - 2nd Aug

Week C: 5th - 9th Aug

Week D: 12th - 16th Aug





Join Mercian Archaeological Services CIC in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for this week-long training excavation, which focuses on the teaching of archaeological excavation methods.


As well as offering the very best in archaeological training and support, this training excavation is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil requirements of the Archaeological Skills Passport.


Bainbridge Archaeological Training Excavation 2024

At Bainbridge, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.

Price £450 per person, or £350 per student (in full time education 18 and under, Student NUS card holder or international equivalent*, Distance Learning etc)



Archaeological Skill Passport

The beautiful village of Bainbridge was formerly the administrative centre of the medieval Forest of Wensleydale, and the magnificent Bolton Castle near Leyburn dominates the valley to the east. A Roman fort looms large over the village on the eastern side.

The site of the excavation is overlooked by a Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Slight Univallate Hillfort. This fort occupies the high ground at the top of a steep slope on the southern side of the site.

We will be concentrating our excavations on the possible medieval manorial complex to the north of this fort, which has been identified from earthworks and recently discovered pottery (see below).


The area is famous not only for its beautiful landscape, but also it world famous cheese, and as the backdrop to the Television series ‘All Creatures Great and Small’.


Archaeological Training Excavation:

This course is suitable for all levels from beginner to experienced digger.

This training course focuses on the skills of archaeological excavation. You will receive training and experience in many techniques of excavation, including many Core Skills listed in the Archaeological Skills Passport:

Handtools (Trowel etc), Handtools (Spade, Mattock etc), Site Formation Processes, Stratigraphic Excavation, Context Sheet Recording, Site Photography, Dumpy Level and Staff, Archaeological drawing, Artefact Recovery, Recording & Storage, Site Safety.

This training course focuses on excavation and recording skills but there will also be a chance to undertake a number of techniques that make up the Secondary Skills of the Archaeology Skills Passport including:

Finds Processing.

All techniques are taught and experienced throughout the week, a mixture of classroom sessions and hands on training from our Archaeological experts.


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

2024 Dates:

Week 1: 9th - 13th

September

Week 2: 16th - 20th

September





Total Station Survey at King John's Palace in Sherwood Forest

In archaeology the ability to measure the location of a site, artefact, or earthwork is essential.

Nowadays many archaeological sites use either GPS or Total Station for site survey. Differential GPS can record points of circa 1cm accuracy levels in three dimensions, and can also allow real time ‘on the fly’ measurements to be taken allowing large areas of land to be surveyed. The total station is an electronic theodolite and Electronic Distance Measurer that records point locations by measuring distance and angles.

This course will teach the required skills that are used on excavations and other sites for locating features using GPS and total Station.

The course will also go further to enable participants to learn the complex skills of archaeological topographic survey, recording a site with a combination of both objective and subjective survey methods.

Topographic Survey Training day course aims to help participants learn about the theory, science, uses, methods, logistics, deployment, data collection, data processing, and reporting, behind archaeological topographic surveying.

The course will include a mixture of classroom and field based working. This is a field based training course consisting of hands-on experience backed up by some work in a classroom style environment. YOU will undertake the work in a group and collect real data in the field.


The course will include:


        

Students will meet at at King John’s Palace in Clipstone. The training will take place at the site of the Palace, and a survey will be undertaken in Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve. Full details of the site will be provided nearer the time, but will be within 2 miles of King John’s Palace (transport from the classroom sessions to the field will be provided if required).

The survey training will begin at King John’s Palace, former royal heart of Sherwood Forest, and then move to the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve where earthworks from Medieval Holloways and ridge and furrow to Second World War Military dug-outs will be surveyed.

As well as being a training survey, this course will undertake real archaeological research, mapping and recording earthworks as part of a level two survey of archaeological features as part of the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve Archaeological Survey.

Ancient track-way through the Forest

Learning to survey with Total Station at King John’s Palace

As well as offering the best in archaeological training and support, the topographic survey course is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil requirements of the Archaeological Skills Passport.

Archaeological Skill Passport

Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

Topographic Survey Training Course 2024

Kings John’s Palace
and the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, Nottinghamshire.

Price £350 per person

The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest

The Major Oak legendary hideaway of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest

The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest


2024 Dates:

Week of

7th - 11h October 2024


£350 per person


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

toposurv




Discover King John's Palace free excavation

This training school is designed to provide training and experience in various aspects of the post excavation process. All tuition and training will be carried out under the supervision of experienced tutors, with finds training lead by Mercian's ceramic specialist David Budge.

 The course is designed to give delegates an understanding of what is involved in the post excavation process for finds, ranging from initial cleaning and processing of the finds as they come out of the ground, through to some of the specialist analysis that finds are subject to, through to illustration and preparation of the finds for publication.


The course is designed to allow delegates to gain experience of handling finds and to develop the ability to look at artefacts critically with a view to recognising the clues that give evidence of what they were used for and that can help to identify them.


The course also provides training in archaeological drawing techniques including preparing plans and /or sections for publication, and training in working with site archives to create site matrices.

Delegates will also learn archaeological GIS (Geographic Information Systems) including working with survey data, preparing maps, working with historic mapping, creating and working with 3D models.

Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

Post-Fieldwork Training School 2024

at King’s Clipstone.

Price £450 per person, or £350 per student (in full time education 18 and under, Student NUS card holder or international equivalent*, Distance Learning etc)



Archaeological finds training session



*Please note that while aspects of this course will be in-depth, attendance on the course will not qualify delegates to work as finds specialists or archaeological illustrators; no matter how high the quality of tuition a week long course cannot substitute for the years of experience, training and knowledge required.


Archaeological Skill Passport

As well as offering the best in archaeological training and support, the 2021 Post-fieldwork training school is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil the requirements of the Archaeological Skills Passport.

Tin Tabernacle King John's Palace

All training will take place at the Tin Tabernacle, King John’s Palace, Kings Clipstone, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England.


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

postfield

2024 Dates:

Week of

21st - 25th October




Discover King John's Palace free excavation

This training school is designed to provide delegates with and introduction to using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for archaeology.


Archaeological GIS training:

Delegates will work with survey data and learn how to create maps, vector layers and geo-reference raster images, as well as create and work with 3D models.

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.

Archaeologists use GIS for many things including creating maps, analysing landscapes, understanding archaeological sites, creating 3D models, viewshed analysis, presenting survey data and more.

GIS is a great way to integrate data from projects and can be used to analyse that data as well as present it in the form of maps for publication.

The images to the below include GIS being used in building analysis, surveying, map work, and the displaying of geophysical survey data.



 

Take your skills to the next level by joining our 3 day

Introduction to GIS in Archaeology 2024

at King’s Clipstone.

Price £250 per person

3 Day Course


Archaeological Skill Passport

As well as offering the best in archaeological training and support, the 2021 Post-fieldwork training school is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil the requirements of the Archaeological Skills Passport.

Tin Tabernacle King John's Palace

All training will take place at the Tin Tabernacle, King John’s Palace, Kings Clipstone, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England.


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

2024 Dates:

Week of

6th - 8th November



gis

Excavation Weeks
*Available only to delegates who have previously attended Mercian’s
Training Field School, and/ or Training Excavations*

baindig





Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

‘Exploring Landscape Archaeology’
Course 2024

at King’s Clipstone, and around Sherwood Forest

Price £375 per person

2023 Dates:

Week of

13th - 17th May 2024


£375 per person


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

landscape

This 5-day Landscape Archaeology course combines class-room lectures, field visits, and site tours of the landscape, to give an immersive learning experience, introducing students to the wide and exciting field of landscape archaeology.


The course uses the legendary landscape of Sherwood Forest as the main case study, with site visits to Creswell Crags, Thynghowe and Robin Hood’s Hill, Laxton and Wellow villages,  The Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, and  Thoresby Park, and also includes examples from around the UK and the wider world, to enable students to experience the subject first-hand and to begin seeing the landscape in a new way.


The course studies not only the changes in landscape use over time, but also how peoples relationship to the landscape, in terms of it was viewed and imagined, changed over time as well.

The course introduces the history of landscape archaeology as a discipline and the evolution of the philosophies of landscape archaeology including those of processual and post-processual archaeology.


It also presents many of the methods available for examining, recording and viewing the landscape, and for reconstructing historic landscapes, including:




The physical landscape is explored including:


The human landscape is then studied in relation to this underlying physical landscape, including the evolution of landscapes over time from prehistoric to present day.  




The course then looks at different layers of cultural, and imagined landscapes:




The course then looks at some of the ways archaeologists attempt to understand the subjective human experience of landscapes in the past including:




The course is located at King John's Palace in Sherwood Forest, and includes site visits around the Sherwood Forest landscape.


The course includes entry to, and a guided tour of the Palaeolithic Rock art at the site of Creswell Crags, as well as many other sites in the world famous Sherwood Forest landscape.






Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

Archaeological Geophysics Training Week
Introduction to Ground Penetrating Radar
Course 2024

at King’s Clipstone, and around Sherwood Forest

Price £400 per person


For more information and to book your place(s) please click here.

Archaeological Geophysics uses a range of instruments and techniques to detect and map variations below the ground surface. These can be interpreted by archaeologists and effectively enable the experienced practitioner to ‘see’ possible archaeological features under the ground.

On this course delegates will learn about the different techniques of Geophysical survey undertaken in archaeology, and will also have the chance to undertake Ground Penetrating Radar survey at a site in the Sherwood Forest Area, Nottinghamshire.

Classroom content will be taught at King John’s Palace, King Clipstone, Nottinghamshire.

The course will include a mixture of classroom and field-based working, enabling participants to learn through both taught theory and hands-on practical learning.

On this course delegates undertake the work in groups and collect real data in the field.

There will also be chance to learn about how this data can be used in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software, to produce maps ad plans.


The course will include:

        


Dates:

Week of

20th - 24th May 2024



Community Archaeology in Derbyshire

Community Archaeology in Leicestershire

Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Excavation, Research, Volunteering, Community Archaeology Derbyshire, Training, Social, Learning, Community Archaeology Leicestershire, Heritage, Involvement, Belonging, Knowledge sharing, Community Archaeology Lincolnshire, Topographic Survey, Talks and Presentations, Outreach, Archaeology Projects , Open Days, Schools, Finds Processing, Day Schools, Field Schools, Young People, Archaeology and History of Sherwood Forest, Pottery Research, Medieval, Roman, Prehistoric, Community Interest Company, Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire.



Community Archaeology in Nottinghamshire

Community Archaeology East Midlands

Community Archaeology in Lincolnshire

Community Archaeology in Yorkshire



Mercian Archaeological Services CIC

Specialists in Community Archaeology, Public Involvement, Research & Training



© Mercian Archaeological Services CIC 2021. Registered Business No. 08347842. All Rights Reserved.

Geophysics_course

May

13th - 17th

#landscape

The ‘Exploring Landscape Archaeology’ course, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
5 day course

May

20th - 24th

#geophysics_course

Archaeological Geophysics Training Week,
Introduction to Ground Penetrating Radar Survey Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
5 day course

2024 Courses Calendar:

Welby Archaeological Training Excavation

2024

At Welby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Price £450 per person, or £350 per student (in full time education 18 and under, Student NUS card holder or international equivalent*, Distance Learning etc)



Archaeological Skill Passport

 As featured on Channel 5…

This is not an ordinary field school - this is a ‘training field school’ where you will learn about all aspects of archaeological excavation and receive hands on training and learning from archaeological professionals in the heart of Sherwood Forest…

As well as offering the best in archaeological training and support, the Field School is tailored towards enabling attendees to fulfil the requirements of the

Archaeological Skills Passport.