Placement Opportunity with the CBA: Georgia

Here at the Council for British Archaeology, we really enjoy supporting placement students to gain experience working in archaeology and heritage organisations. We have a long-standing collaboration with the University of York’s Archaeology Department to support their annual cohort of Cultural Heritage Management and Museum Studies MA students. Georgia tells us about her recent placement with our team.

Hello! My name is Georgia Smith and I’m a MA Museum Studies student at the University of York. As part of my degree, I’ve been lucky enough to do a placement with the Council for British Archaeology (CBA). I was so excited for this opportunity – I was a YAC member for about 10 years. Have a look at the YAC magazine page from 2010, when I won a competition to visit the Mary Rose museum before their reopening – hint: I’m wearing a very fetching pink hat!

During these few months, I have been working with the Young Archaeologists’ Club to update some of the older activities to the new appearance and to reflect new discoveries. I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to develop my skills in creating youth-focused activities and practical skills in designing professional resources. I’ve had a look at all sorts of activities, from making mesolithic fish traps to building WW2 Anderson shelters and much more! 

I began the placement by having a go at photogrammetry, where many photos are taken from all angles to make a 3D model. Archaeologists use photogrammetry to make models of objects so they can be studied from all over the world. Have a go here: Photogrammetery Activity.

I also helped to create the Zooarchaeology Resource Pack which contains 4 activities exploring how archaeologists study animal remains to learn more about people in the past. These include excavating owl pellets, discovering which animals have been native to the UK, exploring what animals can be used for and reconstructing animal skeletons: Zooarchaeology Resource Pack

With the CBA I attended the Gateways into Heritage conference, held by English Heritage’s Shout Out Loud team at the Yorkshire Museum. This was a great day of fascinating talks and workshops about youth engagement projects across the country exploring dance, animation, film, photography and more. It was inspiring to hear from so many brilliant speakers about their youth driven projects which have all clearly made great strides in dismantling barriers to heritage for young people. 

Many thanks to the CBA team for this opportunity, particularly Jo who has been immensely helpful and supportive. This has been a great experience and I’ve learnt so much over these six weeks!