Two-centre field schools: Combining survey and excavation in Ireland and Wales or the Isle of Man

Abstract

The Castell Henllys Ireland and Wales Field School, and now the Ireland and Isle of Man Field School, combine training and research in two countries and with a variety of research aims and methods. The advantages and challenges of this approach to archaeological field training can be assessed after over 15 years of such programmes. The tensions between research and pedagogic goals, the methods and expectations of students and the discipline of archaeology in different countries, and the ways in which linking a North American-style field school with a British-style training excavation can create a particular dynamic are explored.