Field Archaeology

This winter intensive subject is a hands-on, residential field school, teaching practical core archaeological skills through active participation in an authentic research setting at the ancient site of Rabati, coordinated by staff from the Classics and Archaeology programme in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the National Museum in Georgia. The main emphasis in this course is the development of competency and familiarisation with a range of practical field archaeology skills; excavation, recording and post-excavation analysis. While the emphasis is on these 3 aspects of field archaeology, students will also be introduced to a range of other archaeological processes such as surveying, sorting, recording, artefact analysis and inventorying. Given the stress on practical skills, this intensive field school takes place on a ‘real’ archaeological site in the Republic of Georgia. In addition to the field work, the intensive will include on-site lectures and tutorials, museum and site visits. On successful completion of the course, students will acquire a thorough and detailed knowledge of the main tasks involved in field archaeology. They will have developed practical skills in excavation, recording and post-excavation analysis; they will also acquire considerable ability to process and interpret archaeological evidence, manage the information obtained, and communicate their findings in a coherent and scholarly way. They will have participated in activities which involve group work as well as individual effort and will have a developed an understanding of key field archaeology practices.