Our three Level 3 Archaeological Technician apprentices here at Cotswold Archaeology (Horatio, Rory and Alex) are reaching the halfway point of their apprenticeships. They have battled through the cold and wet winter weather and are now starting to enjoy the spring and summer digging season. All three have worked on various archaeological excavations and evaluations gaining valuable experience of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman archaeology. This has given them the opportunity to work on different types of archaeological features, and Horatio in particular has been enjoying getting stuck into some large boundary and enclosure ditches. All of the apprentices have learnt about the different recording techniques we employ, both digital and paper. Rory has really taken to using our digital recording system and has been learning how to use our GPS equipment.

To help give our apprentices a full picture of what happens with the archaeological samples and finds recovered from site, each of them have been spending some time with our Post-Excavation department sorting processed samples, along with cleaning and preparing finds for museum deposition. Alex has really grasped the methods we use to process finds, and all three believe this experience helps them to better understand how we strive to extract as much information as possible from our excavations. The cohort has also benefited from hands-on finds identification workshops led by our array on in-house specialists, and from talks from members of our illustration and consultancy teams.

Our apprentices have also been working hard at Cirencester College learning about archaeological time periods, archaeological theory and what happens behind the scenes of an archaeological site. They have even had the chance to go on field trips to explore at first hand the archaeology of Wessex and Northumbria, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

We are hoping to be able to offer more apprenticeships in the future and if you would like to know more about the Level 3 Archaeological Technician please contact Sian Reyinsh, Cotswold Archaeology’s Fieldwork Training Officer at sian.reynish@cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk. Alternatively, there is always the option of volunteering with us. If you would like to know more about this please contact Caroline Adams, our Outreach and Community Engagement Officer, at caroline.adams@cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk.

Sian Reynish
Fieldwork Training Officer