Post-Fieldwork Training School

Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Community Archaeology Derbyshire, Community Archaeology Leicestershire, Community Archaeology East Midlands, Mercian Archaeological     Services Community Archaeology for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Sherwood Forest,     Leicestershire and the East Midlands. Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Community     Archaeology East Midlands, Community Archaeology Leicestershire. Archaeological

email: info@mercian-as.co.uk

Payment options

You can book your place for the Post-Excavation training school via a number of ways:

PLEASE NOTE:

By booking a place on the field school you are agreeing to abide by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC’s TERMS and CONDITIONS and by our CODE of CONDUCT.  

Click here to view full terms and conditions including our health and safety policy

Delegates will receive training and experience in the following:

Finds processing:

• The course will allow delegates to become familiar with a range of artefacts of different materials and types.

The training on finds processing will involve you:

• Carrying out initial processing of finds as they come from site (including correct handling procedure, what can be cleaned and what cannot, how to clean the things that can be cleaned, how to recognise when to call in specialist conservators)

• Carrying out marking of finds, knowing what details to mark and the best place to mark

• Carrying out an initial sorting of the cleaned finds, learning to recognise artefacts of different types made from different materials and how to package them for storage, conservation, or to be sent off for specialist analysis.

There will also be an opportunity to participate in some of the more specialist aspects of post excavation finds work, primarily focused on pottery.

There will be opportunities to:

• Learn some basic rules that can help delegates to undertake basic dating of pottery from the region through taught sessions and hands on artefact handling.

• Learn about some of the standards and guidance used by ceramic specialists and the different stages of analysis that may be undertaken by specialists in the post excavation process, from initial scanning and spot dating, to assessment, through to analysis and quantification.  

Under supervision delegates will:

• undertake scanning of contexts for spot dating purposes.

Delegates will also:

• undertake supervised quantification of artefacts excavated from King John’s Palace.

Delegates will also be taught finds illustration, focusing on ceramics, learning how to produce publication ready archaeological illustrations.

Delegates will experience the whole process of producing archaeological illustrations of pottery from initial pencil drawing to inking and then scanning and processing the illustrations ready for publication.

Archaeological Post-excavation training:

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 work with context sheets, and create site matrices from a site archive, and drawings.

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 (time permitting) be introduced to archaeological GIS (Geographic Information Systems) including working with survey data, preparing maps, working with historic mapping, creating layouts and exporting data.

Post-excavation fieldschool booking form- choose your week, and your payment option below and click “Buy Now”

Booking:

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

Post-Fieldwork Training School 2025
at King’s Clipstone.

Price £450 per person, or £350 per student (in full time education, NUS card holder or international equivalent*)

Places are limited so please book promptly to avoid disappointment.

2025 Dates:

20th - 24th October

As well as the above all school attendees will receive the following:

• All techniques are taught and experienced throughout the week, with hands on training from our Archaeological experts.
• Hands on learning and training is supplemented with seminars covering many of the subjects listed above - providing the theory behind the practice.
• This course is suitable for people of all archaeological abilities from beginner wishing to take their first step, to experienced diggers wishing to take the next step, and from university students and post-graduates needing more experience, to retired people wanting to fulfil a life’s ambition… all are welcome and will be treated equally… the experience is tailored to the individual through hands on personal supervision.
• On-site toilet facilities are provided.
• All equipment is provided, although you are welcome to bring you own pencils, pens, notebooks etc.
• As well as all the above you will learn about the history and archaeology of Sherwood Forest, and also about the designed royal hunting landscape and Palace at its heart. Mercian Archaeological Services CIC run the Sherwood Forest Archaeology Project and are at the leading edge of research into this landscape of legends…

About King John’s Palace and Sherwood Forest

The Post Fieldwork Training School is based at the royal 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.

Recent archaeological work by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC has helped to reveal the size and importance of the site, and has also interpreted the surrounding lordship as a ‘designed’ medieval romantic hunting landscape.

The palace was sat at the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest and provided amenities for hunting, royal retreat, and the entertaining of foreign royalty and important members of society.

As part of the 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 more about life in Medieval Sherwood Forest…

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

For those wishing to develop their skills, for students and post-graduates seeking to fulfil the experience requirements of their courses… for those wishing to pursue a career in archaeology, or improve their knowledge to give them the edge at work… for those looking to acquire cross-transferable skills… for volunteer wishing to raise their game, impress their friends, and increase their enjoyment of archaeology and heritage through a greater skill set and knowledge base…. through to people simply wishing to learn for the love of learning…

Everyone is welcome… no previous knowledge or experience is required…

*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.

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

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

email: info@mercian-as.co.uk

• You can pay for your place in full online via the ‘buy now’ option below for the required week. This includes a £200 non-refundable deposit for a FULL adult ticket, or £150 non-refundable STUDENT deposit. (See promotional SALE PRICE FOR AMOUNTS)
• You can pay a non-refundable deposit via the second  ‘buy now’ option below for the required week. This will reserve your place until we receive your full payment which is required 12 weeks prior to the commencement of the excavation. You can pay by cheque in FULL or the appropriate deposit. In order to pay this way please contact us first via email in order to ensure your place is reserved before sending a cheque. We will then be able to arrange where the cheque is sent to. Please tell us which week you wish to book on, and that you wish to pay by cheque.
• You can pay by direct bank transfer in FULL or the appropriate deposit. In order to pay this way please contact us first via email.

Post-Fieldwork Training School Week: 20th - 24th October 2025

Students, & Under 18s:

Book your place by paying in FULL £450:

or

Pay £200 non-refundable DEPOSIT to reserve your place:

Pay OUTSTANDING BALANCE £250:

Or

Book your STUDENT place by paying in FULL £350:

Or

Pay £150 non-refundable STUDENT DEPOSIT to reserve your place:

Pay OUTSTANDING BALANCE £250:

Thank you

Please note that Archaeology can be quite physically demanding, so please contact to discuss any limiting factors with regard to you undertaking fieldwork. There are aspects of the course such as finds processing that are less physically challenging. Please contact us if you have any issues.

Please note we do not provide accommodation. We can provide a list of local accommodation from camping to hotels- but it is the responsibility of the individual booking on to the field school to organise their own accommodation.

Any list provided should not be seen as a recommendation by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC.

To pay by cheque or bank transfer, please contact us below stating which week you wish to attend and how you wish to pay.

or If you require more information before booking please contact us via our email:

info@mercian-as.co.uk

If you are coming to our field school and you are new to Sherwood Forest why not stay a while and have a look at some of the other things there are to do in this landscape of legends…

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