Studying at York
Team Project: Field Archaeology Survey Skills - ARC00058I
- Department: Archaeology
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Helen Goodchild
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
- See module specification for other years: 2021-22
Module summary
The Team Project gives students the opportunity to plan and carry out independent geophysical and topographical surveys. You will use the skills developed during your Practical Skills Module to capture data, analyse the landscape, process data, and draw up and present your surveys in a professional report. Students have contributed to an ongoing survey in Museum Gardens, aimed at evaluating the subsurface remains, and contributing towards the museum’s management of its estate. Students also have the opportunity to showcase their work at the York Museums’ Trust Roman Festival.
Related modules
Pre-requisite modules
Co-requisite modules
- None
Prohibited combinations
- None
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
Building upon the practical option that you took in the Spring term (Term 5), Team Projects allows you to practice the subject-specific skills that you learnt over that period. The module will split students into teams to analyse and evaluate a dataset or case study with the overall aim of producing a report to professional standards on the material they have examined.
This specific module aims to:
-
To provide experience in working as a team on a shared project
-
To build skills in the recording, analysis and interpretation of geophysical and landscape survey data
-
To train, through practice, the skills necessary to the production of a professional-standard archaeological report.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
- Acquire existing data sets from online repositories
- Create new data through geophysical or earthwork survey
- Process and interpret this data to answer research aims and objectives
- Appreciate the importance of consistency, time-keeping, and good record-keeping in practical work
- Allocate and co-ordinate tasks, and communicate efficiently as a team
- Produce a group report to a professional standard
Module content
The first half of term will be focused on data capture, with teams carrying out geophysical and earthwork survey on site in their allocated areas, following a brief provided. Survey will be done independently, but with the module leader available for support and advice in the weekly meetings.
The second half will involve the independent processing and interpretation of data. Team members will allocate tasks, which may involve geophysical and Lidar processing, digital drawing, and so on. Results will be drawn up digitally and presented in a professional report summarising the activities and any findings.
Indicative assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Groupwork Report |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Report |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Formative: Groups keep logbooks of work carried out and discuss progress with their module leader each week.
Summative: Written feedback sheets will be released within 20 working days of the submission deadline, along with your overall mark for the module. If you have any questions about your mark and/or your written feedback, you will be able to sign up for office hours with the marker.
Indicative reading
Historic England (2017) Understanding the Archaeology of Landscapes. A Guide to Good Recording Practice (2nd edition)
Historic England (2018) The Light Fantastic. Using Airborne Lidar in Archaeological Survey.
Schmidt, A. Linford, P., Linford, N., David, A., Gaffney, C., Sarris, A., Fassbinder, J. (2016) EAC Guidelines for the Use of Geophysics in Archaeology.
Detailed reading for the module will be available via YorkShare (the University's virtual learning environment). When you have enrolled on a module, you will be able to access the full reading list.