Bachelor of Science 'Archaeological Science'
2002-2006
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford

1st Class with Honours (Overall Mark 76.4%)

During my degree at the department of archaeological science in Bradford I studied a wide variety of subjects both archaeological and scientific. The course covered all archaeological science techniques; geophysics, metallurgy, dating, conservation, artefact analysis, biomolecule research, instrumental techniques as well as the basics of environmental sampling, excavation and post-excavation techniques.

Some of my highest marks came from archaeological based modules
• Monuments and Landscapes 100%
• Archaeological, Theory and Method 76%
• Archaeology of the British Isles 69.6%
• Introduction to World Archaeology 70.5%
• Roman Britain 67.2%

However my particular interest has always been in the Archaeological Sciences, and the course at Bradford exposed me to a range of different scientific techniques.
• Instrumental analysis module 75.1%
• Geophysical prospection 75.1%
• Chronology and biomolecules research 72%
• Pyrotechnology and metals 78.6%
• Archaeometallurgy 78.5%

Following my success of a placement year, involving a 6 placement with the English Heritage team and the publication of my article based on an essay in the second year I decided to carry on with my research on Anglo-Saxon iron knives. For the dissertation titled ‘Analysis of knives from the Middle Saxon rural settlement of Wharram Percy, Yorkshire’, I received 86%.

Master’s Degree in Science 'Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Materials'
2006-2007
Institute of Archaeology, University College of London

Distinction (Overall Mark 74.8%)

For my masters I decided to move to another university to experience different teaching methods and points of view, plus Bradford offered few new modules for Masters students. This was another brilliant decision in my life. My time at the Institute of Archaeology allowed me to learn far more about ancient technology and the methods for studying it, but also allowed me to grow as an individual while having fun at the same time.

The core module Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Materials (73%) combined studies in theoretical archaeology and scientific techniques, using both individual research and group projects. During this module we were trained to use a variety of techniques during a mini project including SEM-EDS and XRF, ready for the dissertation project.

As well as the main module there were plenty of other module options. To follow on from my experiences with the Technology Team at Portsmouth I decided to do both archaeometallurgy modules I and II (73.5%) and the module glasses, glasses and frits (70%). In addition to these technology modules I did the computing and statistics module with Clive Orton (71%). I also took the opportunity to sit in on many medieval archaeology modules at the Institute of Archaeology, taught by Andrew Reynolds and Martin Welch.

The thesis written during the summer of 2007 was entitled, ‘Slag Inclusions and the Quest for Provenance: Slag and Slag Inclusions from Iron Smelting Experiments and their Application in Slag Inclusion Analyses of Artefacts from Tell Hammeh, Jordan and Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel’.

This research was based on an idea in Sarah Paynter’s paper ‘Regional Variations in Bloomery Smelting Slag of the Iron Age and Romano-British Periods’ where she suggested that slag inclusions would most likely relate more closely to the slag than the ore source. To test this theory I used the raw materials, slag and metal with slag inclusions from a number of well documented smelting experiments. Then using the data collected slag inclusions in artefacts from the sites of Tell Hammeh, Jordan and Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel were analysed and compared to smelting slag from Hammeh.