Guides for Teaching and

Learning in Archaeology
Number 2

Moving Image Resources

for Archaeology Teaching,
Learning and Research
Cathy Grant, BUFVC Information Service,
with a case study by Dr Melanie Giles, University of Manchester

Introduction

This short guide aims to provide a brief introduction for those studying and
teaching Archaeology to a selection of moving image and sound resources and
services available to the Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) sector, in
particular resources that can be accessed via the British Universities Film & Video
Council (BUFVC). These include online databases covering archival and current
information on television programmes, newsreels, and commercially available
educational DVDs, video tapes and CD-ROMs. Other services offer online delivery
of video material to UK HE and FE without charge for use in teaching, learning and
research, a members-only Off-Air Recording Back-Up Service, and an information
service for advice on such topics as copyright issues and content availability.
Using moving images and sound
in teaching and learning
Ever since Eadweard Muybridge began to develop serial photography
to analyse human and animal locomotion in 1878, film has been
used as a scientific tool to record and transmit experience. Use of
this medium in education has traditionally been limited by cost,
difficulty of using the technology, and finding out what is actually
available. Since 1989 educational use exceptions to UK Copyright Reasons for using moving images:
legislation and the introduction of off-air recording licences have • Brings field work into the
made television programmes readily available for use in education. seminar, lecture theatre and
More recently a growing number of online sources have also started online learning environment
providing moving images free at the point-of-use in teaching
• Offers a unique visual
and learning. Trish Thomas, in her briefing paper on the Higher record of past as well
Education Academy website (www.hca.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/ as current excavations,
Briefing_Papers/index.php), has discussed the value of using film techniques, and archaeological
as a resource in classics teaching, concluding that “the best films issues
can inspire the kind of connection between ancient and modern
• Fictional films or
experience that brings excitement to teaching and learning about reconstructions of life in
the Classical world”. Video tapes, and particularly DVD, are very user- ancient cultures provide
friendly media, and lecturers and students are becoming increasingly valuable discussion material
comfortable with viewing video content online and incorporating about their interpretation and
authenticity (or otherwise)
extracts into PowerPoint presentations and Virtual Learning
Environments. The remaining problem is simply finding • Low cost
out what materials are available, and this is where the databases and
services offered by the BUFVC can help. • Ease and flexibility of use –
DVDs, streamed or
downloadable computer
Archaeology and CAVE images

Although all academic subject areas are within its remit, the BUFVC • Increasing academic
interest in media perception
has, since 1977, had a particular interest in supporting the use of and presentation of
moving images in archaeology through its involvement in what archaeology
is now CAVE, the joint CBA/BUFVC Committee for Audio-Visual
Education. In 1988, the Committee established the Channel 4
Archaeological Awards for the best examples of broadcast and non-
broadcast programmes and computer-based use of moving images
CAVE’s Remit:
in archaeology. These form part of the biennial British Archaeological
Awards. • Assess and promote video
and online material for use
The British Universities Film & Video Council in archaeology teaching and
learning

The BUFVC was founded in 1948 and exists to promote the use of • Administer the Channel 4
sound and moving images in teaching and learning in higher and Awards
further education. Most HE and FE institutions are members of the
• Organise occasional
BUFVC, benefiting staff and students with a full range of services. workshops and screenings
However, most of the online databases are freely accessible to all
users from the website www.bufvc.ac.uk. • Advise on broadcast and
online educational projects
Regular one-day courses are also held on subjects related to the use
of film and video in learning, teaching and research. Topics covered
include copyright, encoding digital video, streaming (moving images
and sound accessed online which can be viewed ‘live’ but can’t be
retained by the user) and webcasting, as well as locating and using
moving images. Practical workshops offer training in shooting digital
video and editing, as well as the integration of online moving images
into teaching and learning.

The BUFVC is part-funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

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 Photograph: Geoff Pugh
BUFVC offers these databases Hermes Database
online: www.bufvc.ac.uk/hermes

• HERMES - commercially • Database freely available online

available video recordings, DVDs
and CD-ROMs suitable for use in • Items selected from distributors’
HE and FE catalogues for use in HE and FE

• TRILT - television and radio • Contains 30,000 individual

programme listings – current
and archival – linked to the off-
air recording back-up service
• BUND - cinema newsreels and
related documentation –links to
free online streaming sources
• MIG - reviewed web resources
Roman Mosaic - Lopen relating to moving images and
sound
• RGO - A guide to film and
television archives in the UK
records of DVDs, videos, CD-
ROMs, online materials, etc.
• Materials available for sale, hire
or free online access
• Searchable by subject, title,
personality, distributor, year &
format
• Full contact details for the
2,000+ distributors

Copyright and other information

Advances in computer and digital technology over the last fifteen
years, combined with changes in UK copyright legislation concerning
the use of television material in education, have generated a broad
spectrum of opportunities and challenges to revolutionise the ways in which HE and FE student and teacher
outcomes are delivered. However, as well as creating opportunities, some confusion has also arisen with
regards to what can and cannot be done without infringing copyright or intellectual property rights. The
BUFVC runs several one-day courses a year on these issues, and its Information Service also provides advice on
current practice and will be publishing a booklet on the subject later this year.

Educational and commercially available video recordings

There are no major educational or commercial distributors that specialise in archaeology programmes, although IA
Recordings (www.iarecordings.org) does have a good collection of video content on industrial archaeology. However,
there are many distributors which each have a few programmes of archaeological interest. The BUFVC Information
Service holds a vast collection of educational video catalogues and reference works and uses these to select entries for
the HERMES database of audio-visual materials available for hire or sale. These include such recent releases as the
ten-part Lost Civilizations (2001), Ancient Mellor Revealed (2002) and The Roman Mosaic - Lopen (2003).

Online Moving Image Sources

Obtaining moving images online is now one of the easiest methods of accessing such material. These may be
delivered by streaming for real-time viewing (by individuals on computer screens or by larger audiences via a data
projector) and/or made available for downloading so that sequences or whole films may be retained for use in either
full-length or extract form at a later stage. It is also possible to edit and manipulate downloaded images to insert
them into PowerPoint or other presentation systems. The players required for viewing online images (Real,Windows
Media Player, and Quicktime) are available for free download.

There are now several search engines (see over) that look specifically for video and audio files on the web and they
find material ranging from very short sample clips to complete programmes. Charges apply for viewing some
material, but much is free.

The BUFVC’s Moving Image Gateway (MIG) www.bufvc.ac.uk/gateway brings together almost 900 reviewed online
resources relating to the use of moving images and sound in education, organised by subject.
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Examples of websites streaming images and sound useful for archaeology Multimedia Search Engines

• The Archaeology Channel www.archaeologychannel.org/ • Singingfish

complete films, audio interviews and talks www.singingfish.com

• The Virtual Mummy • Blinkx

www.blinkx.tv/
www.uke.uni-hamburg.de/institute/medizinische-informatik/
unwrapping a mummy’s head and computer tomograms of different planes • Google Video
http://video.google.com/
• BBC/OU Nation on Film www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/
regional archive and amateur footage on industrial archaeology, • AltaVista
used in the television series on social history www.altavista.com/video/

• Roland Collection www.roland-collection.com • Alltheweb

A large collection of films on art including prehistoric art, www.alltheweb.com/
conservation and preservation
• Lycos Multimedia Search
• Nordic Underwater Archaeology www.abc.se/~pa/video/ http://multimedia.lycos.com/
Norwegian site with underwater footage of shipwrecks

• SCRAN www.scran.ac.uk Researcher’s Guide Online

a subscription site offering 300,000 images,
(RGO)
www.bufvc.ac.uk/rgo
movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media
Based on the book The Researcher’s
Guide, now in its 7th edition

• Freely available online

Archival moving image
sources
As well as programme makers,
national and regional film
archives and some museums
also hold film footage useful
for academic research. Some of
them such as the Imperial War
Museum and the East Anglian
Film Archive have made selected
materials from their collections
available commercially on video,
but in most cases the only way
of viewing material is by making
an appointment to see it on the
premises.
The BUFVC’s Researcher’s
Guide Online (RGO) database
brings together details of these
collections, their holdings and
access policies, such as the
Alexander Keiller Museum, The
National Maritime Museum
Archive, ITV Anglia and others.
British Cinema Newsreels
Cinema newsreels may not
immediately seem to be a
potential source of useful
material for teaching and
learning, perhaps because it
is only in the last couple of
years, since companies have
• Over 650 collections from local
put their collections online, and national film archives,
that newsreels have become museums, libraries, television
generally accessible. News companies, commercial stock
shot libraries
stories recorded between 1910
and 1979 are a rich historical • Holdings,contact and access details
resource and contain unique
• Searchable by keyword or
footage, including coverage of name of collection
archaeological discoveries and
important museum exhibitions.
British Universities Newsreel
They also provide an additional Database (BUND)
perspective for studies of media www.bufvc.ac.uk/newsreels
representation of archaeology.
• 160,000 records from over
The two major collections twenty newsreels and
are now both available for cinemagazines
free viewing online (British
• Searchable by keyword, subject,
Movietone News at www. title, event, date and newsreel
movietone.com and the ITN company
Archive at www.itnarchive.
• Direct links to downloadable
com). The British Universities Pathe newsreels
Newsreel Database (BUND)
brings together details of • Reference numbers for
accessing online British
newsreel stories from all Movietone newsreels
the main companies as well
as digitised accompanying • Freely available online to the
documents and rich supporting UK academic community
details on the history of
newsreels. Examples include ITN Archive
such stories as Tutankhamen’s
Tomb (Topical Budget, 1925),
Roman Temple In The City
(Pathe, 1954) and Hastings
- 1066 Remembered (British
Movietone, 1966).

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Examples of websites
supplying downloadable
images for archaeology
• British Pathe
www.britishpathe.com/
newsreels 1896-1970
• Movietone Online Newsreel
Archive www.movietone.com/
free streaming or purchase for
download
• Newsfilm Online
www.bufvc.ac.uk/
newsfilmonline From 2007 this
service will deliver 3,000 hours
of newsreel and television news
material from the ITN Archive
• Creative Archive
http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk/
will supply footage from the
BBC, Channel 4, BFI and OU
archives for non-commercial
download, editing and reuse.
Archaeology content is being
considered for early release. Free
to UK television licence holders
• Education Media Online
www.emol.ac.uk
JISC service providing footage
cleared for use in HE and FE
Television and Radio Index for
Learning and Teaching (TRILT)
www.trilt.ac.uk
• Database for staff in BUFVC
member institutions
• Detailed guide and index to
British television and radio –
1.3 million records per year
• Detailed data from 2001,
selected data from 1995
• Data available in advance of
transmission and held
retrospectively
• Supports BUFVC’s off-air
recording back-up service
• E-mail auto alert service for
programmes on selected subjects
• Selected records enhanced with
additional information
Broadcast television
For the last fifteen years
television has been the main
source of moving image
material used in further and
higher education. Since 1990
and the implementation of
the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, educational
establishments have been
permitted to record and copy
any television or radio broadcast
under the Educational Recording
Agency (ERA) licencing scheme
which allows institutions, for
a fee, to record off-air TV and
radio recordings in teaching
and research. Under a separate
licence agreement, Open
University programmes
may also be recorded. There
has been a huge number of
archaeology programmes on
television in recent years and
many universities have built up
sizeable collections of recorded
programmes. However, there will
always be programmes that have
gone missing, failed to record or
were not selected for recording
in the first place. To support the
use of television material in
teaching and learning the BUFVC
has an archive of television
programmes going back to 1998
(the Off-Air Recording Back-Up
Service) and an online listing of
television programmes going
back to 1995.
The Television and Radio Index
for Learning & Teaching (TRILT)
is only available to BUFVC
members and is particularly
valuable for researching a topic,
finding programme repeats,
locating a specific missed
programme or to plan viewing
up to 10 days in advance. It can
be searched by subjects, such
as archaeology, as well as by
title, personality and general
keywords. Over 1.3 million new
records are added to TRILT every
year and the BUFVC enhances
specific titles which will be of
particular value to the HE and
5
FE community. It is possible to
save specific searches and thus
create ‘auto alerts’ so that, for
instance, those that are interested
in particular archaeology
programmes or periods will
receive emails at least a week
in advance of transmission to
let them know what will be
appearing.
An additional television database
- TVTiP- is now also available
through the BUFVC website.
Produced by Bournemouth
University, TVTiP is a database
of all ITV programmes listed in
the London edition of the TV
Times between 1955 and 1985.
This covers the formative years
of ITV and the launch of Channel
4 and will be a useful for tool for
students of archaeology and the
media.
BUFVC Off-Air Recording
Back-Up Service
Copies of missed television
programmes, dating back to June
1998, can be provided to BUFVC
member institutions holding an
ERA recording licence. It is therefore
possible to use TRILT to discover
details of a programme such as
Blood Red Roses, about skeletons
from the Wars of the Roses,
broadcast in the Channel 4 series
Secrets Of The Dead. Although it
has since been repeated on the
History Channel, its transmission
on Channel 4 on 22/6/2000 means
that copies can be obtained via the
off-air recording back up service. The
number of request forms available
to an institution each year depends
on the level of membership.
Programme copies can be supplied
on videocassette, CD or DVD.
Lapedo child
photo: Open University
Education Media Online Sheffield University Learning Media Unit is one of the largest
university production units in the UK, producing programmes across
(www.emol.ac.uk)
all academic subject areas. Sheffield programmes of archaeological
interest that have been digitised for use by EMOL are:
Education Media Online (EMOL)
provides online moving images
Discovering Roman Britain: The Countryside (1985. 14, 17, 15 minutes).
from various renowned film
Three short programmes on the discovery, excavation and
collections for downloading,
interpretation of evidence to reveal the workings of a great farming
editing and re-use by UK higher
estate of the Roman period.
and further education. Content
has been selected and rights
Wigber Low: Excavation Of An Anglo-saxon Burial Site (1976, 10
cleared by the JISC-funded
minutes). Explains the process of excavation by focusing on a real-life
BUFVC MAAS Media Online
excavation of an Anglo-Saxon burial site at Wigber Low, Derbyshire.
project (www.bufvc.ac.uk/
maas). Although the work of the
Exploring Roman Britain: The Roman Town (1985.12, 14, 13 minutes).
Managing Agent and Advisory
Three short programmes exploring Roman Verulamium - how it grew,
Service (MAAS) ended in July
life in the town, and its importance. Presented by Professor Keith
2005 the material will continue
Branigan.
to be available online as most
rights have been cleared for
Exploring Prehistoric Landscapes (1999. 33 minutes). From aerial
at least 10 years and JISC has
photography and field walking through to measured survey and
announced it will launch its
excavation, this video outlines how archaeological work at a variety of
own initiative to acquire future
scales allows the landscapes of the distant past to be explored.
material.
Remaking A 6,000 Year Old Copper Axe (1996. 19 minutes) An
Programmes delivered via
explanation of the ‘Metal Cycle’ followed by a live demonstration of
EMOL are broken down into 3
the whole casting process.
- 7 minute segments for ease of
download, although complete
Anglia Television played a leading role in the development of
programmes are also available.
archaeology programmes, producing series with the input of
Detailed metadata on the
eminent professors and experts of the time. The two major series
website provides full production
of archaeology programmes that are available on EMOL reflect the
information and detailed
change in methodologies and approaches in archaeological discourse,
content for each segment.
and are important for the study of archaeology on television. Like
Material may be viewed as
many programmes from the 1960s, they have remained unseen for
downloaded, or re-edited using
many years. The Anglia programmes on EMOL are:
basic video editing applications.
Who Were The British? (1965. 6 25-minute parts). The early inhabitants
Within EMOL, the Sheffield
of Britain and the impact of the Romans. The final programme
University and Anglia Television
discusses methods of archaeological investigation. Presented by Brian
collections provide a considerable
Hope-Taylor, with contributions from Glyn Daniel.
number of programmes of
archaeological interest.
The Lost Centuries (1968. 8 25-minute parts). Post-Roman Europe from
the rise of Christianity and the influence of the later Islamic empires
through to the beginning of the Renaissance. The series also explores
Anglo-Saxon Britain and the expansion of the Viking territories from
photo: Sheffield University
Scandinavia into Britain. Presented by Brian Hope-Taylor.

The Devil’s Ditches (1973. 39 minutes). A record of archaeologist Brian

Hope-Taylor’s 1973 excavation of a section of the Devil’s Dyke, due to
be removed to accommodate a new motorway, near Newmarket in
Cambridgeshire. Presented by Glyn Daniel.

The Fight For York Minster (1967. 38 minutes) An appeal by

Brian Hope-Taylor for the York Minster restoration fund, using as
background footage of his 1967 investigation of the foundations
of the cathedral.

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 Case Study: Using EMOL in Teaching and Learning in Archaeology
Dr Melanie Giles,
School of Arts, Histories & Cultures, University of Manchester
melanie.giles@manchester.ac.uk

Students of archaeology learn in a variety of ways, not just through textual research, but through their
critical analysis of visual imagery and ‘hands-on’ engagement with the past. However, rising costs are
restricting access to innovative media and their use in class. Lecturers therefore often resort to a well-
illustrated ‘PowerPoint’ presentation, as a way of meeting these other learning pathways. This need not be
the case: EMOL provides a suite of archaeology programmes, usefully broken down into short, five-minute
segments, which can be used to enrich understanding of a particular technique or explore a particular
period-based theme, with case studies.

For example courses on ‘Landscape Archaeology’ can make the most of the excellent Exploring Prehistoric
Landscapes programme, designed to familiarise students with basic landscape techniques and
differentiate between scales of analysis. Based in the Peak District, enclosures, stone circles, settlements
and funerary monuments are used to illustrate techniques ranging from aerial photography, surface
survey and field walking, to test-pitting and excavation. The programme stresses the importance of
background information such as geology, hydrology and soils, and encourages the early use of archival
material (especially maps, plans and photographs) in any landscape project. It also manages to explore
sophisticated concepts and issues, along the way. Other programmes (such as The Devil’s Ditches or
Wigber Low excavation) could be used to complement these prehistoric case studies, and show how such
techniques are applied in practice.

Alternatively, a course on Roman Britain could use the series called Who were the British: the Immigrants
and the Conquerors, to explore pre-Conquest settlements and life-ways, the invasion itself, and phenomena
such as roads, towns and defences. In addition, Discovering Roman Britain: parts 1-3 has a special focus on
villas and estate landscapes, using the case study of Gatcombe. Meanwhile the post-Roman landscape is
explored in the short series The Lost Centuries. Segments on Anglo-Saxon burial from this series could be
complemented with the case study of Wigber Low. Alternatively, the threat of invasion (discussed in the
episode The Fury of the Norsemen) might be contrasted with The Devil’s Ditches. Early Christianity also
features in The Lost Centuries series, and could be paired with The Fight for York Minster; a programme
which explores the influence of Roman and early Medieval remains on later structures, and discusses
problems of raising public awareness for the restoration and renovation of this medieval building.

These programmes enable teachers to convey the importance of matching research themes with
apposite methodologies, in a long-term process of investigation and assessment. However, many of these
programmes were made in the 1960s and 1970s, and thus appear somewhat out-of-date, in terms of
over-arching narratives delivered by ageing male academics, survey techniques and film production
standards. This may cause amusement for students used to the humour and debate of a contemporary
Time Team episode or the hi-tech graphics of Timeflyers. However, as such, they could be used by students
to critically analyse changes in the way in which archaeology is presented to the public, touching on issues
of gender, narrative, politics, media and representation.

In sum, this is a rich resource with great potential for both thematic, period-specific courses as well as
training in the history of archaeological methodology, technique and analysis.

Education Media Online (EMOL)

www.emol.ac.uk

• Copyright licence to be signed at

photo: Sheffield University

institutional level

• Service guaranteed free of charge

until July 2007

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BUFVC Membership
Membership of the BUFVC is open to universities, colleges, schools and other educational institutions
such as museums, as well as to individual researchers. The benefits of Standard Ordinary Membership
are:

• Access to the TRILT database

• Up to 50 copies (depending on type of membership) of previously broadcast television programmes

from the Off-air Recording Back-up Service

• Copies of Viewfinder, the BUFVC magazine, containing news and features on the production, study
and use of film, television and related media for higher and further education. Published four times a
year

• Discount on BUFVC publications and course registration

• Access to the BUFVC’s Information Service

• From autumn 2005, access to the Members’ area of the redesigned BUFVC website

Contact details

Information Service and database enquiries :

Sergio Angelini - 020 7393 1506 and
Cathy Grant - 020 7393 1507, email library@bufvc.c.uk

CAVE and archaeology-related enquiries: cathy@bufvc.ac.uk

BUND and newsreel enquiries: Tel 020 7393 1508, email newsreels@bufvc.ac.uk
TRILT and television enquiries: Tel 020 7393 1501, email trilt@bufvc.ac.uk
Off-Air Recording Back-Up Service: Tel 020 7393 1503, email services@bufvc.ac.uk
Education Media Online - online delivery technical: edina@ed.ac.uk

The BUFVC is an educational charity that exists to promote the use and study of moving images
and sound in higher and further education.

British Universities Film & Video Council

77 Wells Street
London W1T 3QJ
Tel: 020 7393 1500
Fax: 020 7393 1555
www.bufvc.ac.uk
email ask@bufvc.ac.uk

Edited by: Karina Croucher, Archaeology, HE Academy

Design: Andy Fairhurst, Gten, University of Manchester

www.hca.HEAcademy.ac.uk/archaeology