Achill Archaeological Field School, Archaeology Centre, Dooagh, Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland. www.achill-fieldschool.

com
!

THE ACHILL ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL 1991 2014 The Achill Field School was established in 1991 as a Training School for students of archaeology, anthropology and related disciplines. The Field School is based at the Archaeology Centre in Dooagh, Slievemore and other town lands in Achill Civil Parish, all situated in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland. The Civil Parish of Achill (Achill Island, Achillbeg Island and the Corraun Peninsula) is widely known for the beauty of its majestic cliffs, sandy beaches and towering mountains. It is equally well known for its historic landscapes dotted with wellpreserved archaeological monuments. Achill Civil Parish has a rich archaeological heritage that spans the entire spectrum of Irish history from the remote prehistoric periods to the nineteenth century. Founded in 1991, Achill Field School has undertaken research on many different aspects of the islands archaeology that has included excavation of selected sites and extensive digital surveys. Theresa McDonalds book Achill Island: archaeology history folklore (1997. Reprint 2006), documented the history and archaeology of the island from the Mesolithic to the Post Medieval period. Former students of the Field School have returned to Achill to carry out their own research projects on the Iron Age promontory forts, ceramics from the Deserted Village, Bronze Age roundhouses, Post Medieval Field Systems, Napoleonic Towers, the Boycott House and Shell Midden sites. Many more monuments/sites wait to be explored and researched. Many undergraduate projects have also been undertaken on various aspects of the archaeology of Achill and submitted to the students respective universities as part of their degree award/s. Historically the field school has catered to students from North America, Europe and Australia interested in academic and practical fieldwork components over the course of our 2 week, 4 week and 6 week modules, which come with 3, 6 and 9 Semester hours of academic credit1 from the National University of Ireland Galway. Our 10-week Trainee Supervisor course introduced in 2009 has been a run-away success and is generally undertaken by former students who have previously completed one of our 4-week or 6-week modules. What we do The Field School offers a comprehensive list of courses. These include a number of 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"!#$!%&$!'(!)*+,-.*)!/0!"1!2.,!"3!'456!7&8.*)!!

week Introductory course, the 2-week Bare Bones course, an innovative 3-week DigDraw-and Digitise course, as well as the 2-week, 4-week and 6-week modular courses outlined above that come with Academic Credit, our Trainee Supervisor courses, plus Spring and Autumn Break (10 days) courses. The School also offers a variety of Guided Tours of archaeological and historical sites in Achill, in Counties Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Galway and Offaly. Our staff members are all highly qualified archaeologists with many years of fieldwork experience and extensive knowledge of Irish archaeological sites. Training at Achill Field School Achill Field School was set up with the specific aim to provide hands-on training for archaeologists, anthropology and archaeology students and members of the general public with an interest in heritage. In 2011, the Field School celebrated 20 successful years of training students in archaeological methodology; a hallmark of the School is our reputation for the quality of our training and this mission statement remains at the Centre of everything we do. We offer an exceptionally high level of training, above and beyond that which is offered by similar projects elsewhere. The key to our training is that we cater for small group sizes with all instruction delivered directly by highly experienced archaeologists and environmental scientists. In this way we ensure that each lesson is explicitly covered and delivered in great detail. Our policy is to work with each student until we are satisfied that the particular subject matter has been understood correctly. In addition, students in each module are assigned a particular area of the site in which to work, which they then have to complete from start to finish. This means that each student is involved in all aspects of the excavation, from taking off the topsoil, moving through the different phases of excavation and recording and finally backfilling the area and reinstating the ground at the end of the excavation. We also take the time, on a daily basis, to discuss the excavation strategy with the students so that they can understand the choices that have been made, what other approaches were available and why they were not chosen in this case. At the end of the course our students have a thorough understanding of excavation and surveying methodology that will form a very sound foundation for a career in academic archaeology and/or fieldwork. Whilst the conditions students work in and the archaeology they will deal with will change from site to site and locationto-location, the principles of excavation remain the same. In addition to the excavation and surveying work there is a weekly all day fieldtrip to visit some of the spectacular archaeological sites of Achill and other parts of Mayo. The field trips are more than simple guided tours and students are taught how to examine and interpret the landscape with the eyes of an archaeologist. A series of evening lectures throughout the summer by invited guest speakers provide students with detailed knowledge of current research in Ireland. At the end of the course students have a thorough understanding of the principles of excavation and the nature of archaeology in Ireland that will form a very sound foundation for a career in either archaeology or anthropology. Optional weekend excursions are provided for students who wish to see more of the archaeology of Ireland and include overnight trips to see the world famous archaeology of North Mayo, County Galway and the County Sligo Bay areas. A tour of the Irish Midlands includes a visit to six of Ireland's most famous archaeological sites - Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, Rath Croaghan, Roscommon Castle and Boyle

Abbey in County Roscommon, Corlea Bog in Longford and Clonfert Cathedral in County Galway. Academic Credit The Field School offers academic credits for our 2, 4 and 6-week Modular courses and Trainee Supervisor courses, with transcripts issued by the National University of Ireland, Galway with whom the School is affiliated. Three semester hours are available for the 2-week module, 6 semester hours for the 4-week module, 9 semester hours for the 6-week module and 3 semester hours for the Trainee Supervisor course. We have successfully transferred academic credits to a very large number of American and Canadian Universities. Please see the list of North American universities on our website at: www.achill- fieldschool.com Training and Research What distinguishes the Achill Field School from other field schools is a combination of in-depth training and a focus on state-of-the art archaeological research. From an original focus on post-medieval archaeology at the world-renowned Deserted Village in Slievemore, we have in recent years extended our research area upslope to include some of the prehistoric and Early Medieval sites that are sealed underneath the blanket bog on Slievemore Mountain. Between 1991 and 2006 the focus of the research was on the famous Deserted Village at Slievemore, a massive eighteenth and nineteenth century settlement strung out along the lower south-facing slopes of Slievemore Mountain. Two of the houses in the center of the settlement were excavated along with numerous surrounding features such as garden plots, a mysterious passage and underground chamber and a finely laid metaled-roadway. As one of the very first occasions in Ireland that such relatively recent buildings had been the focus of a dedicated archaeological research project these excavations were of considerable importance during the development of Post Medieval Archaeology as an independent subject in Ireland, where archaeological interest had sorely lagged behind the rest of Western Europe and North America. The tremendous finds assemblage recovered from the excavations is perhaps unique in terms of its size and the level of detail and accuracy of its recording. The finds assemblage is so large that work on the ceramics, glass objects and metal items continues to this day. Through such material recovered from Slievemore and several other subsequent projects in neighboring counties the understanding of the lives of the eighteenth and nineteenth century inhabitants of western Ireland is being subtlety but importantly altered. Since 2006 the focus of the Field School has gradually shifted away from the Deserted Village to sites located elsewhere on Slievemore, and elsewhere on Achill Island. In 2006 work began on a small scale at one of the round house sites on Slievemore, located higher up the slope than the Deserted Village. The three small test pits excavated that year to assist with a post-graduate students soil phosphate research were the start of a five year investigation of these buildings which turned out to be some of the best preserved Bronze Age buildings in the whole of Ireland. Work on the first of these houses was completed during 2008 and even larger scale investigations of the second example began in 2009 and took three years to complete. These two massive stone built structures were occupied in the Middle Bronze Age,

sometime around 1300 BC. They are genuinely massive structures, with elaborate entrance passages and stone built walls over 2m thick and still standing today to a height of up to 1.7m. They appear to mark the final two buildings at the western end of a well-spaced east to west row of similar houses which may contain as many as ten other buildings. The Bronze Age houses are set within a large and complex pre-bog field system and much of the 2010 and 2011 season was spent surveying these field walls and excavating numerous trenches over them to establish their nature. During the final stages of work on the second building it was conclusively demonstrated that three of these field walls were directly attached to the outer wall of the building. Pre bog field walls have proven remarkably difficult to date directly and this clear association between the field walls and the residence is as important as it is rare. As work neared completion on the Bronze Age roundhouses attention was turned to a nearby series of terraces where two small circular foundations could just be seen poking out of the bog. In 2010 the field school investigated the higher of these structures, revealing a circular building with a small internal area but surprisingly large walls. The building was approached via a well-laid flagstone path and a much slighter sub-rectangular building had been tagged onto its downslope side. It overlay a large of field wall and was in turn overlain by a fascinating series of secondary occupation deposits. In 2011, the spectacular archaeology located on these terraces produced yet more when the second circular building was investigated. Inside the building almost the entire interior was occupied by a stone built fire box filled with intensely burnt soil deposits. A gap through the wall led right into the corner of the firebox. This gap was too narrow to be used as an entrance passage and was almost certainly a flue for controlling airflow into the fire box. Clearly this building represented an early kiln, but what was it for? Soil samples failed to yield the expected quantities of charred grains that would be expected from a corn drying kiln. However several Early Medieval glass beads were recovered from the building, one of which from a context closely associated with the firebox. This suggests the possibility that it may have been a glass furnace, a type site as yet wholly unknown from such an early date in Ireland although such a function remains speculative at present. That Early Medieval glass beads were recovered from what had assumed to be a Bronze Age building was quite a surprise but this date was subsequently confirmed by a series of radio carbon dates. As with the first building a small sub rectangular building had been tagged onto the downslope side of this building. During the first part of 2012 excavation work shifted away from Slievemore to Keem at the western end of the island. Here the ruins of a small stone built manor house site at the back of the enclosed farmland, high up on the slopes overlooking the achingly pretty bay. The ruins were once the residence of Captain Boycott, who subsequently moved to southern Mayo where he was subject to an organized process of ostracisation by Irish land reformers, a method of resistance that now bears his name. The excavation revealed the original foundations for the earliest phase of this building, a galvanized steel shell on a timber frame and standing on a stone plinth. This building was probably occupied by Boycott when he arrived on the island in 1857 but remained in use even after he had twice extended the building in stone. The buildings ultimate destruction by fire is well attested by the remains of molten and twisted lumps of window glass. The finds from the excavation, consisting of several hundred artefacts, is providing a very interesting comparative assemblage, in particular as a reflection of distinctions in class, status and national identity as

expressed through material culture. One of the ongoing mysteries of Achill archaeology is the missing megalithic sites recorded by W.G. Wood Martin in the late nineteenth century. Wood Martin was a notable antiquarian resident in Sligo, and about half of the sites on Achill he described in his influential book The Rude Stone Monuments of Ireland can be confidently identified whilst the rest have yet to be firmly tied down. During the latter part of the 2012 season excavations took place at one of the possible megalithic tomb sites on Slievemore. Although the most likely conclusion of this excavation was that the site represents an eighteenth or nineteenth century field clearance cairn it was still an interesting excavation and a negative result is valuable in terms of narrowing down the possible location of the missing megaliths. The first part of the 2013 season was spent working on House 6 towards the very western end of the Deserted Village at Slievemore. The excavations at House 6 were very successful and revealed a relatively simple structure that was built late in the overall sequence of the village. The house was divided into a living room and an animal byre by a well-built cross drain, indicative of animals still being kept indoors at this late date. Curiously the floors were all of beaten earth except for a rather rough pavement that led from the doorway to the north-west corner of the house where there was a small area of very finely laid flagstones adjacent to the small open fire. Continuing the architectural theme in 2013 the excavations moved to the other side of the island entirely, where the Field School investigated an area immediately outside the beautiful Tower House at Kildavnet, a small late Medieval Tower House (castle). Here the excavations revealed the lower courses of the Bawn wall that would have enclosed the tower and formed the outer defenses. Prior to this work the former presence of such a feature had been suspected but not directly observed. Its discovery and investigation adds a considerable new element to the site and the project was regarded as a major success. Interestingly enough this site also had a former resident of some notoriety; Grace O Malley, the sixteenth century Pirate Queen of Clew Bay! Alongside the main excavation projects Achill Field School has long been involved with recording, surveying and excavating a series of interesting eighteenth and nineteenth century transhumance sites, a personal passion of the schools founder Theresa McDonald. Throughout the Medieval period transhumance was a widespread practice through which remote upland pastures were utilized during the summer months. Certain members of the local community, often the teenage children, would spend the summer months looking after cattle taken to graze in areas which could not be accessed during the winter. At these summer pastures they lived in small and simply built Booley Houses. The transhumance sites on Achill are exceptionally well preserved and our investigations at these sites are setting new standards in recording and excavation procedures, the results of which will form the basis of a major publication in the near future. This work continues Achill Field Schools tradition of being at the leading edge of post-Medieval archaeological research in Ireland. In 2009 excavations were undertaken at one of the house foundations at Keem Bay that was surveyed and recorded by the famous English archaeologist Stuart Piggott during his visit to Achill in the 1950s. The excavation revealed a well-built structure

and a surprisingly elaborate finds assemblage that casts some doubt on the function of this particular settlement. An extremely detailed survey and a small-scale excavation was carried out in 2010 at the transhumance village in Annagh, an area known as the 'Back of Beyond'. Annagh has a large set of wonderfully preserved Booley Houses, the lowest Corrie (Ice Age) lake in Ireland and scenery that has to be seen to be believed! In 2011 detailed surveys were undertaken at the settlement at Bunowna on the north side of the island close to Achill head, which was undoubtedly a Booley village, and at Tawnaghmore close to Dooagh, which is similar to Keem in that it may be a permanent village rather than a transhumant site but further investigation will be required to clarify the situation. In 2012 the Booley village at Dirk on the North Western side of Slievemore was surveyed and this is the next of the transhumant sites that the Field School will excavate. Achill Field School in 2014 This year we are beginning a brand new major multi-year excavation at a possible Megalithic site on Slievemore, which consists of several very stone structures or foundations connected via a pre bog field wall to a nearby Court Tomb. Originally recorded in the 19th century this particular site has caused considerable debate throughout the 20th century. Whilst no one can quite agree as to what the site may represent, everyone who visits it is impressed by the sheer scale of the ruins and their tantalizing nature. The staff at Achill Field School are incredibly excited to be involved at the beginning this project. The plan for 2014 involves excavating the western portion of the site where there is a large circular stone built structure around 7m in diameter and surviving to a height of at least 1.5m. Adjacent to the eastern side of this structure are two large orthostatic stones that may be part of an elaborate entrance passage. Perhaps this part of the site represents a prehistoric house, or some sort of circular burial cairn or tomb. It may be some sort of industrial building like an elaborate kiln or an agricultural building for housing animals. Following a recent visit to the site Dr. Tatjana Kytmannow, an expert on Megalithic structures, exclaimed that this excavation would represent Archaeology at its best and were certainly inclined to agree. For up to date information about this excavation please join our Facebook Page where we post all the latest news and photos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/120122094688375/ For details of our 2014 programme, dates and fees, please download our Course Outline at: http://www.achill-fieldschool.com/downloads

Introductory Courses: These are beginners' courses for students looking for
an introduction to practical aspects of archaeology, featuring a 'hands-on' approach in excavation methodology and recording procedures, combined with lectures and a field trip. Introduction to Irish Archaeology: This 1-week course includes tuition in excavation methods, using the Harris Matrix, stratigraphic interpretation, single context recording, planning, soil identification and analysis, data processing and lectures on the chronology of Irish Archaeology. This course includes the complete excavation process in microcosm where students dig and record a small excavation from start to finish. In addition there is a full day Field Trip to some of the archaeological sites on Achill Island ensuring that each participant gets to experience as much as possible whilst on the island. Accommodation is available from Saturday to Saturday. Fees include tuition and materials, self-catering accommodation and local transport. Bare Bones Course: This 2-week course in excavation and survey methodology includes tuition in excavation methods, using the Harris Matrix, stratigraphic interpretation, single context recording, planning, soil identification and analysis, data processing, exercises in different surveying methods including tape and level surveys, Photographic surveys, GPS surveys and EDM surveys, and an introduction to the AutoCad software suite where the results of surveys can be digitized and processed. Lectures include an outline of the chronology of Irish Archaeology and on the value of different research strategies. This course includes the complete excavation process in microcosm where students dig and record a small excavation from start to finish, exercises that teach a wide variety of different surveying methods and two all day Field Trips to visit some of the archaeological sites on Achill Island. Accommodation is available from Saturday to Saturday. Fees include tuition and materials, self-catering accommodation and local transport. Dig-Draw-and-Digitise: 3-weeks course for International and local undergraduate and graduate students. This course was designed primarily for participation by Irish, British and North American students but open to nationals from other countries who may want to upgrade their current skill levels or complete a mandatory fieldwork as part of their degree course. It is also suitable for students undertaking their own archaeological research, and it is ideal for post-graduate students preparing for dissertation research (and even ambitious undergrads!) or members of archaeological interest groups looking to expand their field skills. This 3-weeks course in excavation and survey methodology includes tuition in excavation methods, using the Harris Matrix, stratigraphic interpretation, single context recording, planning, soil identification and analysis, data processing, introduction to AutoCAD and GPS, Photogrammetry and Historic Building Recording, plus lectures on the chronology of Irish Archaeology and on the value of different research strategies. This course includes the complete excavation process in microcosm where students dig and record a small excavation from start to finish and two all day Field Trips to visit some of the archaeological sites on Achill Island. Students take back an illustrated report on the work they undertook at the Field

School which includes the written account of the trench they excavated, digitized plans and sections that they have drawn and photographs of the site and any finds that they made. The students will be shown how to prepare such a report to a professional standard ready to be submitted to the Licensing Section of the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland. No other short course in Ireland offers such a comprehensive experience. Accommodation is available from Saturday to Saturday. Fees include tuition and materials, self-catering accommodation and local transport.

Modular Courses: The Field School offers modular courses that come with
Academic Credit and provide a variety of experiences designed to supplement undergraduate study of archaeology and anthropology. Course Code: SS 106 SS 107 and SS 108: Module 1 and Module 2 and are of 6weeks duration and qualify for 9 semester hours of academic credit. Course Code: SS 106, SS 107 Module 3 and Module 4 are of 4-weeks duration and qualify for 6 Semester hours of academic credit. Course Code: SS 108: Module 5 and Module 6 are of 2-weeks duration and qualify for 3 semester hours of academic credit. A Module consists of 2-weeks, 4-weeks or 6-weeks academic study and practical fieldwork. Excavation takes place on every day of the week except Wednesday with the day beginning at 9 am and ending around 5.00 pm. Fieldwork takes place on-site at Slievemore and at other sites in Achill depending on the particular project taking place (this may vary throughout the season so please check the website or write to us for confirmation about the specific excavations taking place). The excavations are carefully arranged so that each participant is involved in the complete process of excavating the trench they are assigned to, from removing the first turfs through all the phases of excavation and recording until the point when it is time to backfill the trench. The vast majority of field schools do not commit to this process and participants may only undertake a random selection of tasks providing a very incomplete experience. At Achill Field School we are totally committed to the idea that every student should experience every aspect of the excavation, and that each student should gain a detailed understanding of all the tasks they are involved in. Wednesdays are off-site days with a morning Lecture followed by a Field Trip. The series of lectures are an important part of the courses and help develop a rounded understanding of Irelands archaeology. The field trips last for around six hours and include trips to explore sites from the full range of archaeological periods present in Ireland. Several of the field trips include surveying exercises in order to broaden the educational range of the course and help our students develop a better feel for examining archaeology in the wild! In addition a series of Guided Tours for students are available during selected weekends throughout the summer months. Every two weeks there is an Evening lecture by an invited Guest speaker, representing a selection from the most interesting research projects taking place in Ireland. 1-day courses by specialists in environmental archaeology, digital archaeology, geophysical archaeology and Ceramics identification are held at various times during the

Modular courses (this may vary throughout the season so please check the website or write to us for confirmation about the specific additional courses taking place). Students enrolled for Academic Credit must complete and submit a 1500 word essay on a topic of choice before the end of their course. At the end of each week there is a short multiple choice style quiz that will have questions relating to the on-site work, the lectures and the field trips. Students have access to the small but comprehensive library at the Archaeology Centre and are encouraged to make full use of it for their research. A group of networked computers is available for on-line research and essay composition. Accredited Courses Class Content: Modules 1 and 2 (6 weeks duration) includes: Lectures: 21.5 hours Fieldwork: 256 hours Class Content: Modules 3 and 4 (4 weeks duration) Lectures: 16 hour Fieldwork: 170 hours Class Content: Modules 5 and 6 (2 weeks) Lectures: 9 hours Fieldwork: 84 hours Workshops Archaeological Ceramics Environmental Archaeology Survey Methods and Drawing: GPS, ArcGIS, AutoCAD and Photoshop Specified Assignment(s) Essay 1500 word Essay on a topic of choice. Guidance on subject matter provided by AFS staff members. The essay must be submitted to the Director of Fieldwork on or before the students departure from the Field School Other Autonomous Student Learning Supplementary lecture material and other text and web references will be provided Assessment(s). Continuous on-site assessment. Weekly written exam Marks Maximum marks 100% Comparative chart: North America and Ireland Grade A = 4.00 Grade B+ = 3.50 Grade B = 3.00 - 70-100% - 60-69% - 50-59% Grade C+ = 2.50 Grade C = 2.00 Grade D = 1.50 - 45-49% - 40-44% - 35-39%

Result Transcript and Grades forwarded to students home University by NUI Galway in September each year Title Module1 and Module 2 Credits (ECTS): 18 ECTS / 9 Semester Hours Module Places: 25 Module Code: SS106, SS107 and SS108 Module description: Introduction to Irish Archaeology. Archaeological Field Studies. Data Analysis. Result: Transcript and grades forwarded to students home University by NUI Galway upon satisfactory completion of course Title Module 3 and Module 4. Credits (ECTS): 12 ECTS / 6 Semester Hours Module Places: 24 Module Code: SS 106 and SS 107 Module description: Introduction to Irish Archaeology. Archaeological Field Studies Result: Transcript and grades forwarded to students home University by NUI Galway upon satisfactory completion of course Title Module 5 and Module 6 Credits (ECTS): 9 ECTS / 3 Semester Hours Module Places 16 Module code SS 108 Module description: Data Analysis Participation in on-site survey and excavation. Attendance at lectures and Field Trips SS 106: Introduction to Archaeology of Ireland On site work during the first element of the course introduces the student to the basic techniques of archaeological excavation, including laying out trenches, removing overburden, and excavating archaeological deposits with a variety of hand tools. Lectures introduce the Irish Archaeological Chronology whilst a series of workshops develop the students understanding of the principals of excavation. SS 107: Archaeological Field Studies On site work during the second element introduces the student to the methods of on site recording of archaeological features and deposits, including section drawing, elevation drawing, horizontal planning, establishing a site grid, surveying, using an auto level and the EDM, and site photography. Lectures complete the Irish Archaeological chronology whilst workshops focus on post excavation skills such as managing site archives, writing stratigraphic reports preparing AutoCAD drawings and using Photoshop and Illustrator to manipulate images. SS 108: Data Analysis On site work during the final element sees the completion of the excavation and its

restoration and then introduces the student to a broad range of subjects involving archaeological sites and their setting in the landscape, such as upland surveys, identifying new sites, recording standing monuments and analysing inter-site relationships and morphological settings. Lectures review the development of the discipline of Archaeology in Ireland and the ethical challenges facing the archaeological profession in the early 3rd Millennium whilst workshops focus on preparing the work so far undertaken for final publication. Indicative Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of those modules, students should be able to understand the processes and methods involved in archaeological survey and excavation and have an enhanced knowledge of Irish archaeology. Skills List: Daily Fieldwork/excavation involves trowelling, sieving, planning/taking levels/laying out a grid, archaeological photography, recording finds, soil recognition and description using Munsel colour chart, single context planning, matrix construction, environmental sampling, public education. Students will have an opportunity to acquire all or most of those skills during their stay at the AFS. Surveying: Building recording and analysis, taking profiles across buildings, using the EDM and GPS, ARCGIS and AutoCAD. Laboratory: Finds processing, sorting, identification and curating. Sieving soil samples and preparing content for analysis. Using microscopes to identify seeds, wood and other content from samples. Trainee Supervisor Courses 1 and 2: Duration 10 weeks. Available to former students of the Field School and selected candidates who have attended other Field Schools but who require a deeper level of training. The course is offered to those students who demonstrated a combination of skills including intuitive understanding of archaeological procedures, good work ethic, the ability to listen to and understand instruction, and the right temperament to become Site Supervisors. The Trainee Supervisor Course is a unique learning experience that builds on the skills gained in the previous year or at other Field Schools. Candidates are therefore only selected when they have demonstrated a good understanding of the basic principals of excavation. The Field School programme has been re-organised and the schedule for the 2014 season and reflects a more structured approach to all aspects of fieldwork methods. This has been facilitated by the purchase of ten new computers, hand-held GPS units and other state of the art equipment, all of which have brought added value to the Trainee Supervisor Course. The Trainee Supervisors will be responsible for a particular area of the excavation and work with the director to ensure that the area is correctly excavated and recorded. The Trainee Supervisor will lead a team of students through the process of excavation, and be responsible for maintaining discipline, providing training to the students in the basic skills of excavation, and compiling the site archive for their area of the site. Each area will be a new excavation, and so the Trainee Supervisor will oversee the entire process of the excavation from laying out the trench and removing the sod,

through to the completion of the excavation. The Trainee Supervisor will then be instructed in the basic procedures of post excavation, learning how to prepare the written and drawn records to be placed into a permanent archive, how to digitise plans in AutoCAD 2014, and how to write a stratigraphic report. At the end of the course the Trainee Supervisor will have compiled a complete report of their area to full publication standard. When the report is published in 2015 each Trainee Supervisor will be named as the co-author of the section of the report covering their particular area. This level of training leading to a full, peer reviewed, and publication credit is simply unavailable elsewhere, and would provide a major advantage to the Trainee Supervisor during Job Applications or Applications for Post Graduate Study. Please refer to our website www.achill-fieldschool.com or contact info@achillfieldschool.com for further details of Courses and keep up to date with our current projects at our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/120122094688375/ Bookings can be made through our secure on-line system at www.achillfieldschool.com (t) +353 (0) 98 43564 (fax) +353 (0) 98 43595